ANSD : Iraqis rally against govt as Baghdad summons Western envoys

SAT 20 - 4 - 2024

Date: Dec 11, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Iraqis rally against govt as Baghdad summons Western envoys

_{Agence France Presse}
BAGHDAD: Iraqis turned out Monday to mourn a prominent activist gunned down the previous evening, the latest violent episode in anti-government demonstrations in which more than 450 people have died.

The development came as Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned four Western envoys over their condemnation of a deadly attack against protesters over the weekend.

Iraq’s capital and its Shiite-majority south have been gripped by more than two months of rallies against corruption, poor public services and a lack of jobs.

Prominent civil society activist Fahem al-Tai was killed in a drive-by shooting in Karbala late Sunday while returning home from protests.

Hundreds joined his funeral procession Monday, carrying 53-year-old Tai’s coffin through the city’s streets. “We will not forget our martyrs,” one sign carried by tearful protesters read.

The country is expected to see widespread protests Tuesday, marking two years since Iraq defeated Daesh (ISIS).

Activists have called for massive marches from other Iraqi cities toward Baghdad, but paramilitary leaders have warned such protests would be “ruinous.”

“It will bring the most massive chaos yet to Baghdad,” said Qais al-Khazali, the head of the prominent Asaib Ahl al-Haq armed faction who was recently blacklisted by the U.S.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq is one of the most powerful groups in Iraq’s Al-Hashd al-Shaabi security force, a network of armed groups integrated into the state.

Hashd chief Faleh al-Fayyadh over the weekend ordered the factions to stay away from rallies.

Founded in 2014 to fight Daesh militants who had seized swaths of northern Iraq and neighboring Syria, the Hashd is made up of mostly Shiite factions, many of which have been backed by Iran. It initially supported the government over protests but switched sides, although demonstrators fear Hashd fighters’ presence at rallies could derail their anti-regime movement.

Protesters are seeking a comeback after an attack on a major Baghdad demonstration site left 20 protesters and four police officers dead, sparking nationwide outrage.

The British, French and German ambassadors to Iraq condemned the violence in a meeting with caretaker premier Adel Abdel-Mahdi, who resigned on Dec. 1.

“No armed group should be able to operate outside of the control of the state,” the envoys said in a statement, urging the government to “urgently investigate.”

The envoys also pressed the government to implement its recent order that the Hashd “stay away from protest locations.”

In response, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned all three ambassadors as well as their Canadian counterpart, who had similarly condemned the violence.

The ministry said their comments were an “unacceptable intervention in Iraq’s internal affairs.”

A diplomatic source told AFP the envoys were “not surprised” at having been summoned, particularly after the premier had defended his government in response to their criticism at the earlier meeting.

In addition to those killed, dozens of protesters went missing after the attack on the parking complex and have yet to resurface, their relatives told AFP.

Demonstrators have for weeks complained of being monitored, threatened and harassed in an intimidation campaign aiming to blunt their movement.

Since Oct. 1, the youth-led rallies have accused the ruling class both of being inept and corrupt and of being heavily influenced by neighboring Iran. Baghdad has close ties with both Tehran and Iran’s archfoe Washington, which led the 2003 invasion that toppled Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussein. Some 5,200 U.S. troops are still based across Iraq and are facing a spike in rocket attacks on their positions.

The latest in the early hours of Monday saw four rockets slam into an Iraqi base that hosts a small contingent of U.S. forces next to Baghdad International Airport.

Six Iraqi soldiers were wounded, according to the military.

Security sources said they belonged to the elite Counter Terrorism Service, created and trained by U.S. forces.

No American forces were wounded in the recent salvoes.

While there have been no claims of responsibility, American defense officials have blamed several of the attacks on Iran-backed factions in Iraq.

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