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Iraq Urges UK to Cooperate in Cross-Border Crimes

Sudani receives British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and the delegation accompanying him. (Iraqi premiership)
Sudani receives British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and the delegation accompanying him. (Iraqi premiership)
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Iraq Urges UK to Cooperate in Cross-Border Crimes

Sudani receives British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and the delegation accompanying him. (Iraqi premiership)
Sudani receives British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and the delegation accompanying him. (Iraqi premiership)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani called on Monday for cooperation with the UK in combating cross-border crimes and the extradition of criminals involved in corruption cases.

As he received British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, Sudani “highlighted the need to collaborate with the British side to combat cross-border crimes, particularly smuggling, human trafficking, drug-related offenses, and recovering stolen funds as well as the extradition of individuals sought by the Iraqi judiciary for cases related to corruption,” read a statement from the premier’s office.

Sudani stated that combatting corruption is a popular demand and its danger isn’t restricted to Iraq but jeopardizes the world countries.

Iraq plans to ask Interpol to issue international alerts seeking the arrest of former senior officials including former prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and an ex-intelligence chief over the alleged theft of more than $2.5 billion from the country’s Tax Commission.

Integrity Commission chief Judge Haider Hanoun announced the move to seek so-called Interpol Red Notices. Hanoun said the judiciary would also ask for a notice to be issued for the former finance minister, Ali Allawi, who holds British nationality.

Kadhimi and Allawi have both denied involvement in the alleged corruption, which came to light late last year after a new government came to power.

Allawi resigned in August 2022 citing political interference in government work and graft. He has since said that he took steps to prevent theft from occurring at the Tax Commission but that his decisions were ignored by other officials.

The Iraqi PM stressed that the government had prepared a national strategy to combat human trafficking in Iraq during 2023-2026 as well as a national strategy for combating drugs in 2023-2025.

He said his country has made “significant efforts” to combat drugs and human trafficking.

He further stressed that the Iraqi government welcomes the signing of a joint statement of intent and an MoU draft between the Iraqi and British interior ministries.

Sudani commended the UK’s support for Iraq in the war against ISIS.

The British minister expressed the UK’s willingness to provide further support and modern technologies to the Iraqi security forces.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral ties and agreed to increase cooperation in security and military, and in combatting terrorism and corruption.

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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.