Prominent Member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Survives Assassination Attempt in Southern Iraq

Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
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Prominent Member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Survives Assassination Attempt in Southern Iraq

Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)

A prominent member of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq survived on Sunday an assassination attempt in Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar governorate.

Ziad al-Oujaili told local media that assailants on a motorcycle tossed a bag containing an explosive under his vehicle.

He said he was only four meters away from the car when it went off.

He escaped unscathed and the car was destroyed.

Police are now investigating the incident, he added.

The Asaib Ahl al-Haq has risen to prominence in recent years, especially after the rise to power of the pro-Iran Shiite Coordination Framework of which it is a part of.

Just years ago it was a minor faction that only boasted one member at parliament. The faction was initially formed after it defected from the Sadrist movement of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Now, the Asaib Ahl al-Haq enjoys 15 MPs at parliament and it occupies important ministerial positions, including the post of minister of education, and public positions throughout central and southern Iraq.

Assassination attempts are usually tied to partisan disputes over the governance of provinces, rivalry over economic projects or disputes between clans.

Dhi Qar has been tense over the arrest of Coordination Framework member Ammar al-Rikabi on Wednesday on charges of running an online extortion network.



Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the opposition which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.

Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria's revolution, the source said according to Reuters.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed "the form of the military institution in the new Syria" during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.

Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step "comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability".

Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the opposition’s Idlib government, the General Command said.

Sharaa's group was part of al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.

Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian opposition fighters seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad's rule in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.