Iraqi ex-PM Kadhimi hiding in US embassy, accused of Soleimani murder
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Although Kadhimi previously vowed to expel all foreign military forces from the country, US troops remained but were given the option to "rename" their position as “advisory roles”.
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Former Iraqi PM Mustafa al-al- (NYT)
Former Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi has local lawmakers contemplating his arrest for allegedly being involved in the assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani by the US in 2020.
A senior official in the State of Law Coalition, Fadel al-Zerigawi, stated during an interview with Iraqi news outlet Shafaq News last Monday that al-Kadhimi is hiding inside the US embassy.
"The available information confirms that [al-Kadhimi] is in the capital, Baghdad, and has not left the country. He is inside the Green Zone, and is sheltering in the American embassy," Zerigawi relayed, adding: "The next stage will witness the issuance of arrest warrants and investigations against al-Kadhimi for his involvement in the [theft of the century] case and the assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani.”
High-ranking but anonymous military sources told Shafaq News that Iraqi troops originally posted as al-Kadhimi's protection were withdrawn this week from his home in the Green Zone. At the time of the assassination, al-Kadhimi was head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service. As a result of their assassination, Iraqi lawmakers demanded the withdrawal of US military forces, calling their presence a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
On January 3, 2020, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, Major General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, were martyred by a US missile strike near Baghdad International Airport.
Although al-Kadhimi previously vowed to expel all foreign military forces from the country, US troops remained but were given the option to "rename" their position as “advisory roles”.
Before being hired as the director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in 2016, he previously worked with CIA-backed Radio Free Europe and US-based Al-Monitor - leading some locals to believe that he only got his position after US pressure on Iraq’s then-PM, Haider al-Abadi.
Iraq has been in turmoil for years, ever since al-Kadhimi took office for the past two and a half years, higher poverty and increased foreign meddling skyrocketed in the country. However, the Iraqi parliament appointed a new PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in October, which gave rest to the political turmoil and paralysis since the parliamentary elections last year.
It is worth noting that Iraq, which is an oil-rich country, is plagued with poor infrastructure, unemployment, power outages, and crumbling public services -- the effects of the US invasion in 2003.
