OIR spokesperson Colonel Wayne Marotto said in a tweet on Sunday that the coalition had “just been made aware of announcements” by the Kurdish and Iraqi governments “relating to the recent conference held in Erbil to discuss the normalization of ties with Israel.”
He added that The Global Coalition “had no prior knowledge of the event” or “any affiliation with its participants.”
Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council on Sunday issued arrest warrants for three people accused of participating in the Friday conference, which more than 300 Sunnis and Shias from across the country attended.
The conference was a call for Iraq to join the Abraham Accords, a US-led joint Middle East peace initiative between Bahrain, Morocco, the UAE, Sudan and Israel.
The conference came under attack by several Shiite groups, and multiple militia groups released statements on Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) Telegram channels threatening to “burn down” places where “traitors” and “evil bases” are located.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Erbil "must forbid such terrorist Zionist meetings" and the Iraqi government should arrest everyone who attended the meeting. He said on Twitter that "we shall take responsibility for what must be done according to Sharia.”
The forum was condemned by Baghdad and Erbil. A statement from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called the meeting “illegal” and said ties with Israel are constitutionally rejected.
Spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Jotiar Adil said the conference was held “without our approval or knowledge” and does “not reflect the views and policies of the KRG.”
The Kurdistan Region and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, but have enjoyed friendly ties. Israel has purchased Kurdish oil and backed the 2017 independence referendum.
Mithal al-Alusi, a former member of Iraq’s Parliament who has campaigned for the establishment of ties between Iraq and Israel, told Rudaw the meeting called for “balanced relations between Iraq and the Israeli state.” He said that Iraq must “exert its sovereignty free from the hegemony of the militias and Iran.”
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