Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Iraq

Jihadist jailbreak in Iraq foiled, one prisoner killed

2021-11-28

[AlAhram] Iraqi security forces said they rubbed out a convicted jihadist on Saturday as he tried to escape from a prison with two accomplices.

The three prisoners, all members of the Islamic State

Rudaw adds:

Iraq’s prisons hold thousands of people on terror offenses, most affiliated with Islamic State

Link

Iraq

Six Iraqis on death row executed, three for 'terrorism': medic

2021-09-01

[Rudaw] Six Iraqis sentenced to death, three for "terrorism", were hanged Monday in a prison in southern Iraq, a medical source told AFP.

The source said the hangings took place in Nasiriyah prison, where death row prisoners are held.

Those not executed for "terrorism" were sentenced over "criminal cases".
"They just needed killin'"
Rights group ~~Amnesia~~ Amnesty International says it recorded more than 45 executions in Iraq last year, including many of people accused of belonging to the Islamic State

for anyone convicted of "terrorism," which can include membership of an krazed killer group even if they are not convicted of any specific acts.

Rights groups have warned that executions were being used for political reasons.

Since Baghdad officially declared victory over IS in 2017, Iraqi courts have sentenced hundreds to death for crimes perpetrated by the jihadists who had set up a "caliphate" in territory seized in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Only a small proportion of the sentences have been carried out, as they must be approved by the president.

Barham Saleh, who has held the post since 2018, is known to be personally against capital punishment.

According to an AFP tally, at least 14 people sentenced for "terrorism" have been executed in Iraq since the start of the year, all at the Nasiriyah prison.

Earlier this month, a man who murdered a senior Iraqi official in broad daylight was sentenced to death amid revulsion over the government's failure to halt a wave of liquidations.

In January, an official from Iraq's presidency told AFP more than 340 execution orders "for terrorism or criminal acts" were ready to be carried out.

Another presidency official said that all the orders were signed after 2014, most of them under ex-president Fuad Massum and at a time when IS occupied a third of the country.

Rights groups accuse Iraq's justice system of corruption, carrying out rushed trials on circumstantial evidence and failing to allow the accused a proper defence.

UN human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
experts in November urged Baghdad to halt all "mass executions".

Link

Iraq

Killer of Iraqi official sentenced to 'death by hanging'

2021-08-23

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A man who murdered a senior Iraqi official in broad daylight this month was sentenced to death Sunday amid revulsion over the government’s failure to halt a wave of liquidations.

"After all proceedings concluded and the convict confessed, he was brought before the Karbala criminal court which examined the crime and sentenced him to death by hanging," the Supreme Court of Iraq said in a statement.

Abir Salim, municipal director in the shrine city of Karbala which houses the graves of two of Shia Islam’s most revered figures, was rubbed out as he worked on August 10.

He was on foot supervising a survey of unauthorized construction when Hussein Abd al-Amir, wearing a traditional white robe, pulled out a gun and shot him at close range.

Abd al-Amir was arrested at the scene.

Under Iraq’s criminal justice system, his lawyer now has 30 days in which to lodge an appeal.

President Barham Saleh also has to sign an execution order for the death penalty

to be carried out.

Salim’s murder sparked widespread public anger over apparent impunity for politically linked crimes, after more than 70 activists had been targeted for liquidation since October 2019.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi went to Karbala after the killing and pledged: "Murderers and criminals will not escape punishment."

There have been no claims of responsibility for the wave of killings.

But supporters of anti-government protests that broke out in 2019 charge that the culprits are known to the security forces but allowed to go free because of political connections, particularly with Iraq’s powerful neighbor Iran.

After decades of war, insurgency and sectarian conflict, Iraq has no shortage of firearms in circulation.

According to the Small Arms Survey, the country counted 7.6 million registered firearms in 2017 for a population of 39 million people, 40 percent of them under the age of 14. Many more are unregistered.

~~Amnesia~~ Amnesty International says Iraq is the world’s fourth most prolific implementer of the death penalty.

The rights group says it recorded more than 45 executions there in 2020, including many of people accused of belonging to ISIS.

Link

Iraq

Iraq, Egypt and Jordan hold joint summit in Baghdad

2021-06-28

Everybody seems busily meeting, all of a sudden — are they just confirming long-distance arrangements made during the Covid shutdown, or has something changed that requies new urgency?

[IsraelTimes] The visit to Baghdad by Sissi — hailed for brokering Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
ceasefire — marks the first time an Egyptian head of state has entered Iraq in three decades.

Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq agreed to bolster security and economic cooperation at a tripartite summit on Sunday that saw an Egyptian head of state visit Iraq for the first time in three decades.

The visits by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II came as Iraq seeks to move closer to Arab allies of the United States in the Middle East.

Iraq is also seeking to establish itself as a mediator between Arab countries and Iran, after reportedly hosting talks in April between Tehran and Riyadh.

Sissi and Abdullah met Iraqi President Barham Saleh and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, with Saleh saying the encounter was "an eloquent message amid enormous regional challenges."

"Iraq’s recovery paves the way to an integrated system for our region built on the fight against extremism, respect for illusory sovereignty and economic partnership," Saleh said on Twitter.

The summit held between Kadhemi and his guests broached regional issues, as well as ways of bolstering cooperation between Iraq, Jordan and Egypt in the fields of security, energy and trade, according to a joint statement released at the end of the meeting.

The leaders discussed a "political solution" to Syria’s 10-year civil war based on UN resolutions "that would preserve its security and stability and provide adequate conditions for the return of refugees."

The Syria conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions, with refugees flooding the borders of neighboring countries including Jordan, which lacks in resources and faces economic hardships.

The leaders welcomed efforts underway to restore stability in Libya and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, and called for the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya.

They called for renewed efforts to reach a "just and comprehensive peace" between Israel and the Paleostinians, and for the creation of an independent Paleostinian state.

They also hailed Egypt’s role in negotiating an end to deadly hostilities between Israel and Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, in Gaza in May, and Cairo’s pledge to help rebuild the coastal enclave.

Kadhemi set the tone at the start of the summit, saying the three countries would "try to shape a common vision... through cooperation and coordination" regarding Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Paleostine.

Sissi is the first Egyptian president to visit Baghdad since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s troops invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Relations between Baghdad and Cairo have improved in recent years, and officials from the two countries have conducted visits.

The Jordanian king visited in early 2019 for the first time in 10 years.

Media reports revealed that Iranian and Saudi officials met in Baghdad in April, their first high-level meeting since Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2016.

Iraqi analyst Ihsan al-Shamari said that Sunday’s summit was “a message for the United States that Iraq will not only have relations with Iran at the expense of Arab countries.”

Analysts have long said that Iraq is a battleground for influence between arch-foes Washington and Tehran, with whom it maintains good relations.

Link

Iraq

Ibn Khatib hospital Director arrested, the Supreme Judicial Council announces

2021-04-26

[SHAFAQ] The Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq announced arresting the director of Ibn Khatib Hospital and a number of hospital employees.

A statement by the Supreme Judicial Council said that al-Rusafa Investigation Court took legal measures following the Ibn Khatib incident, in which dozens were killed.

The court, as by the statement, decided to detain the hospital director until the investigation is completed.

Earlier today, The Cabinet decided to grant an amount of ten million dinars to the families of each victim of the tragedy of Ibn al-Khatib Hospital.

During an extraordinary session held by PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the council assigned, according to a statement by his office, "the legal department in the General Secretariat of the Council to prepare a draft law regarding the victims of the tragedy (deaders), and refer it to the council of Representatives."

The Iraqi Prime Minister also suspended three bigwigs, including the Minister of Health and Environment Hasan al-Tamimi, in the aftermath of the Ibn Khatib incident in which at least 82 and 110 were maimed.

Al-Kadhimi appointed the Minister of Interior, Othman al-Ghanmi, to lead the investigation, with the Ministers of Planning and Justice on board, along with the Chief of the Commission of Integrity, head of the Federal Diwan of Financial oversight, and a representative of the Parliament as a spectator member.

Iraqis Blame Hospital Fire on Mismanagement and Corruption
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] The death of over 80 people in a Baghdad Covid-19 hospital fire was seen by Iraqis Sunday as more proof of the deadly consequences of mismanagement and corruption.

Iraqis, some of whom evacuated the injured themselves, blamed Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi, who was suspended Sunday, with calls for him to be sacked resounding across social media.

The deadly inferno broke out overnight Sunday at Baghdad's Ibn al-Khatib hospital, blamed on poorly stored oxygen cylinders.

The interior ministry said 82 people were killed and 110 people injured, AFP reported.

An official with the Iraqi Human Rights Commission said 28 of those killed were patients who were taken off critical ventilators to escape the flames.

The evacuation was slow, painful and chaotic, with patients and their relatives crammed into stairwells as they scrambled for exits.

President Barham Saleh tweeted on Sunday "the tragedy at Ibn al-Khatib is the result of years of erosion of state institutions by corruption and mismanagement".

A doctor at the hospital said that "in the whole Covid intensive care unit, there were no emergency exits or fire prevention systems".

Witnesses and doctors told AFP many bodies had yet to be identified, the remains too charred by the intense flames.

These issues were raised in a 2017 public report on the Iraqi health sector, exhumed overnight in the wake of the fire by the country's human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
commission.

"It's mismanagement that killed these people," the doctor added, who, on condition of anonymity, angrily listed the hospital's many shortcomings.

"Managers walk around smoking in the hospital where oxygen cylinders are stored," he said. "Even in intensive care, there are always two or three friends or relatives at a patient's bedside."

And, he added, "this doesn't just happen at Ibn al-Khatib, it's like this in all the public hospitals".

"When equipment breaks down, our director tells us not to report it," said a nurse, in another hospital in Baghdad.

"He says it would give a bad image of his establishment, but in reality, we have nothing that works."

These institutions -- which until the 1980s were the pride of Iraq, known across the Arab world for its free, high quality public health services -- are now seen as an embarrassment by many.

Their equipment is outdated, staff are poorly trained and buildings crumbling.

In Iraq, the health sector only accounts for two percent of the budget, despite the country being one of the most oil-rich in the world.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Iraq only has 13 hospital beds and eight doctors for every 10,000 people. Forty years ago, there were 19 beds per person.

Al-Sadr hints at a possible ''act of sabotage'' in the Ibn Khatib hospital
[SHAFAQ] The leader of the Sadrist movement, Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
Moqtada <q>Tater</q> al-Sadr

...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival al-Khoei assassinated shortly after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
, warned on Sunday of an "electoral war," hinting at a possible "act of sabotage" in the Ibn Khatib hospital incident.

The Iraqi Prime Minister also suspended three bigwigs, including the Minister of Health and Environment Hasan al-Tamimi, in the aftermath of the Ibn Khatib incident in which at least 82 and 110 were maimed.

Al-Sadr said in his tweet, "I fear that this painful incident will be part of a series of incidents that serve some saboteurs to target the security of Iraq, especially as the elections approach amid their deteriorating popularity and chances of winning due to their non-national actions."

"Everyone should not involve the people and the innocent in a war they have nothing to do with ... The competition for elections is for their sake, their security, and even their dignity", he added.

He continued, "He (the Minister of Health) was negligent, so the Prime Minister should dismiss him, as he was the one who chose him among other independent ministries."

Link

Iraq

Iraq hangs 21 terrorism convicts in latest mass executions

2020-11-17

[THEBAGHDADPOST] Since defeating ISIS terrorist group in 2017, Iraq has sentenced hundreds of citizens to death for their alleged affiliation to the bad boy group. Rights groups accuse Iraq's judiciary of carrying out rushed trials.

Iraqi authorities on Monday hanged 21 convicted snuffies and murderers at the notorious Nasiriyah prison in the country's south, according to an interior ministry statement.

The men had been convicted under a 2005 counter terrorism law, which carries the death penalty

. Authorities did not give details about specific crimes, but the interior ministry statement said some of those executed were involved in two suicide kabooms that killed dozens of people in the northern town of Tal Afar.

Since declaring victory over the ISIS bad boy group in 2017, Iraq has put hundreds of suspected jihadists on trial and carried out several mass executions.

An Nahar adds:

They were hanged in Nasiriyah prison in Dhi Qar province, the only one in Iraq that carries out capital punishment.

It is known for holding condemned ex-officials of the Saddam Hussein regime, which was toppled by the 2003 US-led invasion. Saddam himself was hanged in December 2006.

Iraqis fearfully refer to Nasiriyah jail as al-Hout, or the whale, a vast prison complex that "swallows people up".

Since declaring the Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group defeated in late 2017, Iraq has condemned hundreds of its own citizens to death for membership in the jihadist faction. But only a small proportion of the sentences have been carried out, as they must be approved by the country's president, currently Barham Saleh. Police sources confirmed to AFP that Saleh had signed off on Monday's executions.

Iraq's courts have also tried dozens of foreign nationals for alleged IS membership, condemning 11 French citizens and one Belgian national to death. Those sentences have not been carried out.

Iraq ranks fifth among countries that carry out death sentence
...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead...
s, according to ~~Amnesia~~ Amnesty International, which documented 100 executions in the country in 2019. That amounts to one out of seven executions across the world last year.

- CRAMPED CONDITIONS, RADICALIZATION -
Amnesty and other advocacy groups accuse Iraq's justice system of corruption, of carrying out rushed trials using circumstantial evidence and failing to allow the accused a proper defense or access to lawyers. They also condemn cramped conditions in detention centers, where cells built to hold around 20 detainees are often packed with 50, a source working in the jails told AFP.

Those arrested for petty crimes are often held with hardened jihadists, which has facilitated radicalization in the past, experts said.

Iraq's government has declined to provide figures on detention centers or prisoners, including how many are facing terrorism-related charges, although some studies estimate 20,000 are being held for purported IS links.

Some facilities have shut down in recent years, including Baghdad's Abu Ghraib complex that became infamous for prisoner abuse during the U.S.-led occupation.

Others were rocked by riots and prison breaks that allowed detainees accused of "terrorism" to escape.

Many women whose husbands, brothers or sons were suspected jihadist fighters still live in displacement camps around the country. They have very little freedom of movement, even to access health care or schooling for their children, with NGOs condemning the settlements as "prison camps."

Link

Iraq

U.S. Plans 'Full Withdrawal' From Iraqi Embassy

2020-09-28

Warning shots fired
[PJ via Insty] "The Americans aren’t just angry. They’re really, really, really angry," said one Iraqi official after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo informed the Iraqi government that the U.S. was planning a full withdrawal from the U.S. Embassy unless attacks on American personnel and the embassy by pro-Iranian militias ceased.

Pompeo gave the ultimatum to Iraqi President Barham Saleh on Saturday night.

Iranian-backed militias Hezbollah and Kataeb have carried out dozens of attacks on American targets since 2019 while the Iraqi government hasn’t lifted a finger to stop them. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, in power since May, has been promising the U.S. he will rein in the militias.

But the pro-Iran faction in the Iraqi government has put up roadblocks to that effort. Now, al-Kadhemi will have no choice but to act.

Asia Times:

Ahead of Kadhemi’s visit to Washington in August, the US signalled it was "unsatisfied with his actions" against pro-Iran armed groups, an Iraqi official said.

The US declined to comment on Pompeo’s latest call, but a State Department official told AFP that "Iran-backed groups launching rockets at our embassy are a danger not only to us, but to the Government of Iraq".

Fresh in the minds of Iraqi officials and armed groups is the US drone strike in January that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s state-sponsored Hashed al-Shaabi.

Since then, many of the leaders of Iranian-backed armed groups have gone into hiding — probably in Iran itself or in Syria. But al-Kadhemi has plenty of problems just trying to keep his job without the added burden of cracking down on groups with which many of his own supporters are sympathetic.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is the largest, most expensive embassy in the world and is almost the size of Vatican City. It’s been operating with a much-reduced staff in recent years and dependents have all been sent home. The State Department said it would take 90 days to totally shut down, giving Donald Trump time to reconsider his decision.

Anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for a "security committee" to "investigate" the attacks. The subterfuge appeared to work.

Within minutes, Kadhemi and other top government figures endorsed the recommendation.

"There’s a consensus on condemning these attacks. Kataeb Hezbollah and other hardliners are isolated and left without political cover," an Iraqi official said.

But Iran isn’t standing still. Iranian officials are planning on making life hell for Americans in Iraq regardless of the desires of Iraqi politicians.

A half-dozen previously unheard-of groups have claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on the US and even threatened the United Nations in recent months.

Iraqi intelligence officials and political sources say Iran has been gathering the most hardline among its Iraqi allies into these new formations.

These reconstituted groups see Kadhemi as Washington’s man in Baghdad and are irked by his vows to rein them in.

America’s problem is that while Kadhemi is not exactly in Washington’s pocket, he’s better for U.S. interests than any alternative on the horizon. And an American withdrawal would leave him extremely vulnerable, making his survival in doubt.

The withdrawal would also be a propaganda coup for Iran. But America’s patience with these people is at an end and Trump has probably figured that an Arab-Israeli detente would isolate Tehran so that the Mullahs couldn’t exploit the withdrawal.

That remains to be seen. But as politically painful is it would be for al-Kadhemi to crack down on the militias, it would be worse for him if the U.S. packed up and left.

#US Secretary of State @SecPompeo gives the #Iraq|i government until tomorrow to stop attacks on the @USEmbBaghdad. #BaghdadPost #MiddleEast #Iran #IRGCTerrorists pic.twitter.com/vHyWfYafmN
— The Baghdad Post (@BaghdadPostPlus) September 28, 2020

#BREAKING| Sources say all security forces were evacuated from #Baghdad's #GreenZone, except the special forces.#BaghdadPost pic.twitter.com/ePYeJm5rWg
— The Baghdad Post (@BaghdadPostPlus) September 27, 2020

Sources reveal attempts to storm #US embassy in #Iraq #BaghdadPost #Baghdad #GreenZone https://t.co/7gdl220aUf
— The Baghdad Post (@BaghdadPostPlus) September 27, 2020

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran changes its tactics in Iraq after Qassem Soleimani’s death: report

2020-05-28

[ALMASDARNEWS] According to a new report, there are diplomatic efforts made in secret by Tehran to change its policies towards Iraq after the liquidation of the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani

during a U.S. raid near Baghdad International Airport.

Citing unnamed sources, Rooters reported that the goal of the new methods pursued by Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
is to break the political deadlock in Baghdad, and to accelerate the departure of nearly 5,000 US soldiers from Iraq, according to three senior Iranian officials involved in the process.

"Sometimes you should take a step back, monitor and plan based on the facts on the ground," said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.

He added: "We want the Americans to leave the region. If there is chaos in Iraq ... the Americans will use it as an excuse to extend their stay."

According to the report, since the killing of Soleimani, Iranian officials had held "serious talks" with Iraqi President Barham Saleh for the first time in years to build confidence and pressed Iran’s allies inside Iraq to reach a compromise to end the impasse that prevented the formation of a stable government.

However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
some Iraqi sources indicated that the officials who come to Iraq also have links with the Revolutionary Guards, and they have years of experience in dealing with Iraqi affairs and significant influence with many political and armed factions.

A senior Iraqi official said that President Saleh opposed the preferred candidates for parties allied to Iran to succeed Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned from the Iraqi government last November against the backdrop of protests, as they are highly divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
for Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Link

Iraq

Iraq’s President Barham Saleh assigns Mouhammed Tawfiq Allawi with forming a new government

2020-02-02

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Iraq’s President Barham Saleh assigns Mouhammed Tawfiq Allawi with forming a new government.https://t.co/VNckK0us0T pic.twitter.com/crNIcOhfR6
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) February 1, 2020

Link

Iraq

Baghdad condemns US embassy attack: ‘Attack on Iraqi sovereignty’

2020-01-01

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraqi President Barham Saleh condemned the attack on the US embassy in a statement on Tuesday, saying that it is an attack on Iraq’s illusory sovereignty before any other party.

The President also said that the attempt is a violation of international agreements binding to the Iraqi government.

Iraqi Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mohammed al-Halbousi also said US embassy attack is an "unaccepted behavior," adding that it harms Iraq’s interests and hurts the image of the Iraqi people.

"The attempt to break into the US embassy and attack its building is an unaccepted behavior that harms Iraq’s interests and hurts the image of our people," al-Halbousi said in a tweet on Tuesday.

"I call on the government to reaffirm its commitment to legal obligations to protect diplomatic missions," he added.

Hundreds of angry supporters of an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militia broke down the US embassy gate door on Tuesday, storming inside the compound as gunshots and sirens rang out.

Link

Iraq

Anti-gov’t protestors block roads and bridges, torch bldgs overnight again

2019-12-27

[AnNahar] Iraq's president said Thursday he was "ready to resign" rather than put forward the candidate of a pro-Iranian coalition for the post of prime minister, deepening the country's political crisis.

Barham Saleh's announcement came as anti-government protesters blocked roads and bridges in Baghdad and the country's south after torching several buildings overnight.

The protesters want a technocratic premier who has had no involvement in the political system set up after the US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

"The government is hostage to corrupt parties and sectarian divisions", said one activist, Sattar Jabbar, 25, in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

Smoke and flames from burning tires in Nasiriyah, Basra and Diwaniyah blocked major roads and bridges across the Euphrates River all night, AFP correspondents said, before some of these roadblocks were lifted in the morning.

In Nasiriyah, demonstrators set the provincial government building ablaze overnight for a second time since the protests began, and protesters also torched the new headquarters of a pro-Iran militia in Diwaniyah.

Iraq has been rocked by protests since October 1.

After dwindling, the street campaign has gained new vigor in recent days to rally against widespread corruption and a political system seen as beholden to neighboring Iran.

Government offices and schools remain closed across almost all of Iraq's south.

Link

Iraq

Iran-backed bloc names Basra governor for post of Iraqi PM

2019-12-26

[Rudaw] An Iranian-backed bloc in Iraq’s parliament proposed Wednesday the governor of oil-rich southern Basra province as the country’s next prime minister. The nomination was promptly rejected, however, by Iraqi protesters who want an independent candidate to take over the government, two officials said.

The Fatah bloc, which includes leaders associated with the paramilitary Popular Mobilization Units, supported by Iran, had proposed Gov. Asaad al-Eidani for premier.

According to the two officials, President Barham Saleh received a memorandum from parliament which stated that the Iran-backed bloc is the largest in the house and therefore has the right to nominate the next premier. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.

Earlier on Wednesday, outgoing higher education minister, Qusay al-Suhail, who had also been rejected by protesters on the streets, withdrew his nomination for prime minister.

Pressure from the demonstrations led Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to announce his resignation late last month. That was after Iraq’s most powerful religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, withdrew support for Abdul-Mahdi’s government.

A deadline to name a new prime minister has been missed twice over disagreements on which is the largest bloc in the parliament following last year’s elections.

There are currently two main blocs ‐ Sairoon, led by populist Shiite holy man Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
Moqtada <q>Tater</q> al-Sadr

...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, though lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics...
, and Fatah, headed by Hadi al-Amiri. But the numbers in the blocs have continued to change since last year’s elections, with an unknown number of politicians leaving some blocs and joining others.

Last Saturday, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court provided guidance in a statement, but stopped short of naming the largest bloc. It said the decision should be based on parliament’s first session after taking office last year. But the court also said it would accept if two or more lists had merged to become the largest bloc.

The same day, President Saleh sent the court’s response to parliament, asking the legislature to say which is the largest bloc.

Menawhile, in the southern city of Diwaniyah, an activist who was maimed last week in a kaboom died of his wounds late Tuesday. Following the news of his death, protesters attacked some offices of Iran-backed political parties in the city.

Link

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