MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- A Nicaraguan judge on Tuesday asked lawmakers to strip ex-president and current head of congress Arnoldo Aleman of immunity from prosecution so he can face money laundering, fraud and other charges from his 1997-2002 presidency.

The National Assembly is in recess until Sept. 10, but lawmakers sympathetic to Aleman, and who have a slim majority in the legislature, said they would block efforts to strip Aleman of the immunity he and all lawmakers enjoy.

Last week Nicaragua's attorney general charged Aleman and 13 members of his family and former administration with diverting nearly $100 million in public funds for personal use and courts have opened criminal proceedings on some of the charges, Reuters reported.

"In accordance with the petition from the attorney general's office, we are asking Congress to begin the procedure to strip immunity from Arnoldo Aleman and Maria Dolores," criminal court judge Juana Mendez told reporters on Tuesday.

Dolores is Aleman's daughter and also a lawmaker.

New Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos promised an anti-corruption campaign against former functionaries when he took office in January.

The crusade has focused on Aleman even though he and Bolanos are from the same Liberal Party, and Bolanos even served as Aleman's vice-president for a time. In the National Assembly, most Liberal Party deputies are loyal to the former president, though some are allied with Bolanos.

A simple majority vote of 47 is needed in the one-house, 92-member National Assembly to strip Aleman of immunity.

"We are not going to allow Arnoldo Aleman or his daughter to be stripped of immunity," said Joaquin Rios, head of a group of lawmakers who support Aleman.

Newspaper reports said Bolanos could only muster 46 votes against Aleman in the assembly, including 38 from the opposition Sandinista Party.