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Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the PMF headquarters in Baghdad on May 16, 2020. Photo: Prime Minister's media office
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Shiite al-Hikma movement has established a pro-government coalition inside the Iraqi parliament to throw support behind Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, under fire for recent moves against Iran-backed militias in the capital.
“We [Hikma movement] announce today the formation of a political, parliamentarian, and public-based coalition that aims to support the Iraqi government and the sovereignty of Iraq,” the movement’s Secretary General Ammar al-Hakim tweeted on Tuesday.
“By establishing this coalition, we are aiming to support the current government of Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and strengthen the state and rule of law,” MP Jasim al-Baghati told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
According to Baghati, 40 MPs have joined the coalition so far.
“Nasr coalition is close to joining and negotiations are ongoing,” Baghati said, adding that the coalition aims to accept “all MPs from different ethnicities and religious groups.”
Head of Nasr coalition and former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with the head of the Hikma movement in Baghdad last week, in which both sides stressed the need of “cooperation” between parliament and the government.
However, MPs have said the bloc is not planning on joining the movement.
“Nasr has no intention to join any coalition at the moment,” Huda Sajad, Nasr coalition MP told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
However, she added that both groups have the same aims, with the first priority to “implement the rule of law.”
The creation of the coalition comes at a time when pro-militia coalitions and political parties have accused Kadhimi of being against the PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic), an umbrella network of predominately Shiite militias formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).
The accusations came after Kadhimi ordered the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) to raid the headquarters of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, part of the PMF, in Baghdad early Friday. At least 14 fighters were detained in relation to recent rocket attacks in Baghdad, the Iraqi Joint Operation Command announced on Friday.
Following the raid on Friday, senior Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Ali al-Askari issued a scathing attack on Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who is also commander-in-chief of Iraq's armed forces, for what he claimed was carrying out US bidding.
“Kadhimi once again followed his American master’s orders, and implemented another plan of theirs in Iraq, after he was involved in the assassination of the two martyrs [Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis], while the fighters of the Hashd immediately gathered and released their fellow fighters in custody,” Askari published on his official Telegram channel on Friday.
On Saturday, Secretary General of Iran-backed militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Qais al-Khazali accused Kadhimi of following western agendas to target the PMF.
“A piece of advice for Kadhimi, do not stand against the PMF fighters, as they have the support of the people,” Khazali said on Saturday.
All but one of the detained Kataib Hezbollah fighters were released on Monday, with no official statement made by the Iraqi government on the results of the investigation they vowed to conduct.
After their release, photos circulated on social media showing militia members stepping on posters of Kadhimi while waving Iraqi flags. Some other photos shared multiple times on social media showed the fighters burning US and Israeli flags.
The group has repeatedly carried out rocket attacks against US forces in Iraq.
PMF units close to Iran are also widely accused of abducting and killing protesters during protests which spread across central and southern Iraq from October 2019. Kadhimi has previously promised to punish those responsible for the violence.
“We promised that those involved in [spilling] the blood of Iraqis will not sleep at night. We will keep this promise. Peaceful protest is a common obligation and everyone should follow it,” the PM said in May.
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