Azerbaijan, Baku, Mar. 1 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /
Iraqi Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi announced his resignation on Friday in protest against the policies of the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Al Jazeera reported.
Al-Issawi, who is a follower of Sunni Islam, announced his resignation in front of the crowd of protesters in the Sunni Anbar province.
Earlier, in January this year, he was the subject of an assassination attempt. Unknown persons detonated a bomb in the Minister of Finance's route. Al-Issawi wasn't injured.
Attacks in the Sunni Anbar province were followed by mass protests which occurred after accusations of oppression of Sunnis by authorities. Demonstrators have repeatedly blocked the strategic highway linking Baghdad to Jordan and Syria.
Rising tensions in Iraq are caused by confrontations between two largest Muslim communities - the Sunni and Shia. According to the 1997 census, 66 percent of Iraq's population is Shia, 34 per cent - Sunni.
During Saddam Hussein's rule, Sunnis held the dominant positions in government. However, after the U.S. military invasion in Iraq in 2003 which resulted in the overthrow of Hussein, the Sunnis were displaced by the Shias, taking a number of important public positions, among which is the most influential position of the prime minister.