Baghdad ? An Iraqi Airways jet carrying a Sunni lawmaker accused of being a terror boss was ordered back to Baghdad on Wednesday, but authorities could only watch as the combative legislator slipped away before fellow parliament members stripped him of his immunity.

The boomerang voyage of Mohammed al-Dayni — whose flight was pulled back just as the plane was about to leave Iraqi airspace — capped days of friction between the Shiite-led government and the defiant lawmaker.

Al-Dayni made one last blitz of calls to journalists and supporters after the Jordan-bound jet returned to Baghdad, calling the charges a campaign to muzzle critics. Then he was gone.

Almost immediately, authorities issued an arrest warrant for a wave of attacks.