Iraq: Head of Mosul Diocese Calls for Int’l Probe into Wedding Hall Fire

People light candles in front of pictures of some victims of the wedding hall fire in Al-Hamdaniya. (Reuters)
People light candles in front of pictures of some victims of the wedding hall fire in Al-Hamdaniya. (Reuters)
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Iraq: Head of Mosul Diocese Calls for Int’l Probe into Wedding Hall Fire

People light candles in front of pictures of some victims of the wedding hall fire in Al-Hamdaniya. (Reuters)
People light candles in front of pictures of some victims of the wedding hall fire in Al-Hamdaniya. (Reuters)

The Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Benedictus Younan Hanno, described the results of an investigation announced by the Interior Ministry on a fire at a wedding hall in Al-Hamdaniya as “shameful,” questioning the measures taken by the government authorities in dismissing some heads of the directorates of the district.

Scores of panicked guests surged for the exits last week in the Haitham Royal Wedding Hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machine burst into flames.

Iraq released the results of its probe on Sunday saying unsafe fireworks were the main reason that caused the deadly fire.

On Monday, the Nineveh Heath Department updated the death toll to 113, including 41 who have not been identified yet. It said 12 people who suffered severe burns were sent for treatment abroad and eight will follow.

In a press conference on Sunday evening, the archbishop rejected the outcome of the probe, saying: “There are things that don’t make sense in this investigation... I feel that there are political conspiracies behind these dismissals.”

Some reports indicated that most of the sacked employees belonged to the Christian community and other minorities. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that some “armed groups close to the Catholic Church fear that the fire will be used as a pretext to settle scores and dismiss local Christian officials in favor of their opponents from other sects and minorities.”

Hanno called for “an international investigation based on clear facts and strategy.” He continued: “We are with the state in expelling any corrupt manager with evidence and documents. But we give the authorities 24 hours to withdraw this decision and take matters seriously.”

The investigative committee formed by the federal authorities recommended the dismissal of the mayor of Hamdaniya, the town’s municipal director, the director of tourism classification in Nineveh Governorate, the director of Hamdaniya Electricity and the director of the Fire and Safety Directorate in the Civil Defense Directorate in Nineveh, as well as the referral of the director of civil defense in the governorate to a specialized committee.

On Saturday, the head of the investigation committee, Major General Saad Al-Dulaimi, said that the venue was overcrowded, and roofed with flammable sandwich panels and decorations made from flammable materials.

“The committee noticed that there were no emergency doors other than the small and insufficient service doors, and no safety supplies, which led to a large fire and heavy losses among the people in the hall,” he stated.



Macron Rejects Any Hamas Role in Post-war Gaza

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron for a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron for a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Macron Rejects Any Hamas Role in Post-war Gaza

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron for a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron for a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, April 7, 2025. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Palestinian group Hamas should have no role in governing the Gaza Strip once its war with Israel is over.  

On a visit to Cairo to discuss the war, Macron said he was strongly opposed to any displacement of Palestinians, throwing his weight behind a Gaza reconstruction plan endorsed by the Arab League to counter a US proposal to send the war-ravaged territory's inhabitants elsewhere.  

Speaking alongside President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the Egyptian capital, Macron hailed his government's "crucial work on this plan, which offers a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and should also pave the way for new Palestinian governance" in the territory.

The French president said Gaza's post-war governance should be "led by the Palestinian Authority", dominated by Hamas's rival party Fatah and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"Hamas must have no role in this governance, and must no longer constitute a threat to Israel," Macron said.  

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and strongly rejected any future role for the group in the Gaza Strip after its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war, now in its 19th month.  

Hamas has recently signaled willingness to cede power in Gaza, which the Iran-backed group has ruled since 2007.  

After a two-month truce, Israel resumed intense bombardment across the Gaza Strip and restarted ground operations, killing at least 1,391 Palestinians since March 18, according to the territory's health ministry.  

Macron said both France and Egypt "condemn the resumption of Israeli strikes on Gaza", warning of a "dramatic" worsening in the situation on the ground.  

Both Macron and Sisi voiced support for "an immediate return" to the ceasefire and the resumption of aid access into Gaza, which Israel blocked shortly before renewing its offensive.  

- 'Realistic path' -  

Macron commended Egypt's "tireless efforts" as mediator in the conflict, having brokered along with Qatar and the United States the January truce.  

The deal collapsed when Israel sought to extend the deal's first phase, but Hamas insisted on talks for a second phase, as originally outlined by then-US president Joe Biden.  

Macron and Sisi were joined on Monday by Jordan's King Abdullah II for a summit on the war and humanitarian efforts to alleviate the war-induced suffering of Gaza's 2.4 million people.  

The visit is a show of support for Egypt and Jordan, the proposed destinations in United States President Donald Trump's widely criticized idea to move Gazans out of the territory.  

Macron said that "we are firmly opposed to the displacement of populations and to any annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank", which Israel has occupied since 1967.  

He said the Arab League's plan was a "realistic path for Gaza's reconstruction" without forcing Palestinians to leave.  

Sisi warned that without a "just solution" for the plight of Palestinians there will not be "lasting peace and permanent stability in the Middle East".  

King Abdullah stressed the need for "a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution", a Palestinian state alongside Israel.