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Iraq: Al-Hashimi’s Killer Is Released Due to ‘Lack of Evidence’

Prominent researcher and security expert Hisham al-Hashimi. (X platform)
Prominent researcher and security expert Hisham al-Hashimi. (X platform)
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Iraq: Al-Hashimi’s Killer Is Released Due to ‘Lack of Evidence’

Prominent researcher and security expert Hisham al-Hashimi. (X platform)
Prominent researcher and security expert Hisham al-Hashimi. (X platform)

The Iraqi judiciary acquitted and released the murderer of prominent researcher and security expert Hisham al-Hashimi last week.

Spokeswoman for the judiciary Sinan Ghanem told Asharq Al-Awsat that a court had acquitted Ahmed Hamdawi al-Kinani due to a “lack of evidence.”

The court’s decision came after the case was reopened last Wednesday, and al-Kinani was released Sunday, said an official with one of the country's Iran-backed militias.

Al-Kinani, accused of murdering al-Hashimi, was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to death by a criminal court last May, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council reported. The case later moved to an appeals court for further review.

Al-Hashimi, 47, was fatally shot outside his Baghdad home by motorcycle-riding assailants in July 2020, following threats from Iran-backed militias. He was on his way home after conducting a TV interview in which he criticized the armed groups’ attacks on diplomatic missions.

Renowned for his expertise on the ISIS group, al-Hashimi had advised the US-led coalition and became a vocal critic of Iran-backed militias after the defeat of the ISIS group in December 2017. He had reported multiple threats from these groups before his death.

A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Kinani denied before the appeals judge ever committing the crime.

Iraqi security authorities had released al-Kinani's confessions on July 16, 2020, ten days after the crime took place.

He confessed to having plotted and carried out the crime along with several other people who had monitored al-Hashimi's movements.

Al-Hashimi was parking his car after returning from a television interview when a motorist got off his motorcycle, walked towards him and shot him dead.

In a video confession, al-Kinani said he drew his police-issued gun and killed al-Hashimi in front of his house.

The security authorities released photos of the weapon and its registration number, as well as the bullet that killed al-Hashimi.

Activists questioned how the authorities could have released al-Kinani while they have the murder weapon and his verified confessions.

An Iraqi lawyer told Asharq Al-Awsat that appeals courts do not consider videos as enough evidence for conviction. They need something tangible like a confession and witnesses to confirm a ruling.

Judicial authorities usually release statements to the media about their ruling a week after they are made, but they did not in the case of al-Kinani's acquittal.

Conviction to acquittal

How did we get here? Al-Hashimi was known for his expertise in extremist groups and has helped government authorities dismantle ISIS’ structure during the liberation battles.

Many of his friends believe that his criticism of pro-Iran armed factions in the months ahead of his killing sealed his fate.

Extremist supporters of ISIS and backers of the Shiite factions celebrated his murder.

Al-Kinani's case started with arrest, his death sentence in absentia, an appeal against the ruling, followed by a retrial and culminating in his acquittal.

Legal experts believe that a court decision in summer 2023 to annul a committee formed by former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that was dedicated to pursuing “extraordinary crimes” was a turning point in al-Kinani's case.

The committee was headed by Ahmed Abou Ragheef and was tasked with carrying out arrests against suspects involved in corruption and “major” cases, including al-Hashimi's.

The committee carried out a wave of arrests against officials accused of corruption, drawing a wave of criticism among political circles.

The committee had referred al-Kinani's case to the central court in al-Rasafa, which then sentenced him to death in absentia in May 2023.

On July 31, the Federal Court of Cassation, headed by Faiq Zeidan, overruled the death sentence and returned the case to the Rasafa court so that it could go ahead with the investigation procedures “according to laws and regulations.”

Following that, al-Kinani did not appear at any of the ensuing trials, revealed trusted sources. Whether he was even held in prison or not was a mystery. Several rumors circulated that he had escaped or was smuggled out. None of the claims could be verified.

Several politicians and journalists have said that al-Kinani had “disappeared completely” since October 2022 which was when the pro-Iran Coordination Framework formed the current government headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

The Court of Cassation’s ruling returned al-Kinani's case back to square one, leading to his acquittal due to a lack of evidence.

An Iraqi judicial source said the acquittal does not necessarily mean that the case will be completely shut. The ruling against al-Kinani or others can be appealed within two years if new evidence in the case emerges.

Back to work

Users on Facebook revealed that the al-Kinana tribe celebrated al-Kinani's release. News then emerged that he had returned to his government job “as usual”.

A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Kinani resumed his work at the Interior Ministry. Another source confirmed that he returned to the engineering directorate there.

Officials at the Ministry did not reply to Asharq Al-Awsat when asked about whether al-Kinani had returned to his post. An Iraqi officer said however, that it was normal for an employee to return after being acquitted.

Born in 1985, al-Kinani joined the police in 2007. He graduated from Amman, Jordan where Iraq was sending its security forces recruits as a safety precaution because the Iraqi training centers were targets of attacks at the time.

Al-Hashimi's family

Asharq Al-Awsat attempted to contact al-Hashimi's family after al-Kinani's release. A close associate of the family told Asharq Al-Awsat that it would rather stay away from the spotlight.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the security and judicial authorities had informed the family of the acquittal and asked them if they would want to take a legal position in the case, but they refused out of fear of reprisals.

He denied that the family had agreed to a financial settlement in the case and said it objected to how the case has been handled.

It would now like to dedicate itself to raising al-Hashimi children and avoid a confrontation with the party that plotted and carried out his murder, continued the source.

A member of the State Administration Coalition told Asharq Al-Awsat that the concerned Shiite political forces do not expect the public to react angrily to al-Kinani's release.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he explained that the forces in power have succeeded in recent months in “neutralizing all sources of concern in the Iraqi street.”

Independent MP Sajjad Salem told Asharq Al-Awsat that this is the fourth case in which a killer is acquitted of a crime whose victims have been protesters, activists and researchers.

The forces in power have succeeded in completely defusing these cases, he stressed.

He revealed that he has submitted a draft law to try the killers and bring justice to the families of the victims. He had approached the government over the issue, but he ruled out the possibility of a breakthrough.

He said the Coordination Framework has managed to consolidate its power firmly in state institutions, leaving little room for any breakthrough in the future.

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Bandar Abbas, Iran’s Trade Hub on Hormuz Thrust to Frontline of US War

Fishermen check their nets and small boats on the seashore in the port city of Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran on August 10, 2026. (AFP)
Fishermen check their nets and small boats on the seashore in the port city of Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran on August 10, 2026. (AFP)
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Bandar Abbas, Iran’s Trade Hub on Hormuz Thrust to Frontline of US War

Fishermen check their nets and small boats on the seashore in the port city of Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran on August 10, 2026. (AFP)
Fishermen check their nets and small boats on the seashore in the port city of Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran on August 10, 2026. (AFP)

With a long shoreline on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's southern trade hub of Bandar Abbas has found itself at the frontlines of the war with the United States, with residents struggling to revive livelihoods battered by months of fighting.

Like elsewhere in Iran, economic strain has squeezed households since US-Israeli strikes triggered the Middle East war on February 28. But unlike much of the country, the port city of around half a million people has remained exposed to fighting even after an April 8 ceasefire brought relief elsewhere.

But despite a lull in hostilities in July, residents still feel squeezed. Saeed Tajik, 42, used to work at a shipyard before losing his job and turning to driving a taxi.

"The prices of housing and food have become extremely high. Almost all the basics -- rice, yoghurt, and oil -- have doubled," said Tajik.

Fuel shortages have long been common in southern Iran, where authorities restrict supplies in an effort to curb widespread fuel smuggling.

But now, "the queues have become longer ... it happens that we wait in the long line for fuel only to get told 'there is none' upon arriving," Tajik said as he drove past a station where motorists waited under the punishing summer heat.

Hormuz has emerged as a central flashpoint after an April ceasefire and June framework deal failed to resolve disagreements between Washington and Tehran over the future management of the strait.

During the war, US strikes hit bridges, highways and railway infrastructure around Bandar Abbas until mid-July, in what analysts saw as attempts to cut off the city and disrupt Iranian military logistics in the south.

- 'Nothing left' -

Inside the city, under a towering concrete statue of two armed men with their arms trained towards Hormuz waters, economic strains play out in long queues snaking outside petrol stations and soaring prices squeezing shoppers in local markets.

The city's repeatedly hit airport remained largely closed until August 15, leaving travelers facing arduous road journeys, sometimes combined with flights and boat crossings.

Outside the city, construction crews still toil under the sweltering summer sun to repair the Gachin bridge, split by a US strike, as cars rumble along a dusty detour below.

Along the waterfront, traditional wooden vessels known as lenjes sit moored alongside fishing and commercial boats, part of a centuries-old trading network linking southern Iran with Arab states across the Gulf.

Arash Tondro, 45, used his lenj to carry Iranian fresh and dried fruit to the United Arab Emirates and return with household goods and other imports.

"My income dropped to zero at the beginning of the war," said Tondro, who later rerouted some trade through Oman's Khasab port as regional seaways were disrupted and "many of the lenjes were hit by drones".

After the UAE suspended trade with Iran on Tuesday following a missile attack on a ship that Tehran denied carrying out, Tondro said he was again unsure how his work would be impacted.

"People in the south mostly rely on trade or fishing. If you take the sea and trade away from them, there is practically nothing left. We don't have agriculture here; whatever there is comes from the sea," he said.

- 'No sales' -

As night falls and August's oppressive heat begins to ease, fish vendors set up along a busy street, laying out shark, tuna and shrimp as the smell of the day's catch hangs in the humid air.

Among them is 22-year-old Anoush Mallah, who recently moved onto the street after soaring rents forced him to close his shop in one of the city's bazaars.

"Business has been terrible since the war started. There are no sales, it's very weak," he told AFP.

"People are short of money. The fishermen aren't going fishing either."

Many fishermen around Bandar Abbas only began returning to sea in recent weeks, after months ashore for fear of being caught in the crossfire of US-Iran fighting.

Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the war. For Mallah, the uncertainty only adds to the strain.

"Let it (the war) start and get some result; right now, we're just left in limbo," he said.

Features

The Ethiopian Dam Dispute and Egypt’s ‘Right to Self-Defense’

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Photo: Foreign Ministry
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Photo: Foreign Ministry
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The Ethiopian Dam Dispute and Egypt’s ‘Right to Self-Defense’

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Photo: Foreign Ministry
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Photo: Foreign Ministry

Over the past two weeks, Egypt has repeatedly stressed its right to prevent any actions by Addis Ababa on the Nile River that could harm its water interests, stressing that it possesses the “right to self-defense” over Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

According to experts who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, Egypt’s signaling means that it “will not hesitate to use all legitimate means to safeguard its water security.”

They explained that the message is a stern warning to Ethiopia and suggests that Cairo is seeking to shift from a policy of protesting Ethiopian measures to preventive deterrence, aimed at stopping the establishment of a new status quo on the Nile.

New Egyptian Warning

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that “Egypt will not allow the construction of additional dams ... that affect its water interests,” stressing Cairo’s commitment to a legally binding agreement that guarantees its water rights.

In a television interview on Wednesday evening, Abdelatty said that Egypt does not oppose African countries’ right to development, noting Cairo’s participation in dam and infrastructure projects in several Nile Basin states. However, he stressed the need to balance the right to development with the rights of downstream countries.

He also underscored Egypt’s commitment to protecting its water interests. “We have the right to self-defense to protect our interests and water security,” said the minister. “We will not accept any agreement regarding the Nile River unless it is legally binding,” he reiterated.

Mohamed Hegazy, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs and a former assistant foreign minister, says the right of self-defense is protected under international law after all peaceful means have been exhausted.

According to Hegazy, the core message is that Cairo still prefers agreement and negotiation, but it no longer accepts using negotiations to impose a fait accompli.

He argued that the most significant aspect of Abdelatty’s statements is that they send three simultaneous messages - Rejection of unilateral measures, rejection of additional dams, and insistence on the right of self-defense to protect water security.

Hussein El-Behairy, an African affairs expert at the National Center for Middle East Studies, said the minister’s recent statements reaffirm Egypt’s right to defend its historical and water rights in the Nile by whatever means the Egyptian state deems appropriate to preserve what Egyptians view as a matter of life and death.

Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Reuters

Escalating Egyptian Position

This is the third time Egypt has signaled the possibility of using its “right to self-defense” and preventing dam construction on the Nile.

On August 16, Egypt’s state news agency quoted an unnamed Egyptian official as saying that Cairo “will neither accept nor allow any party to control the flow of Nile waters to downstream countries,” stressing that the Egyptian state possesses multiple tools capable of protecting its people’s interests in the Nile.

The statement came in response to remarks attributed to Ethiopian Minister of Water and Energy Habtamu Itefa concerning the construction of additional dams on the Nile and control over water flows to downstream states, namely Egypt and Sudan.

Earlier, on August 4, Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam stated during a press conference that Egypt “will not allow the construction of new Ethiopian dams on the Nile River.”

He said: “It is well known that Ethiopia has plans to build additional dams, but will the Egyptian state allow this? No.”

According to Hegazy, the ball is now in Ethiopia’s court. If Addis Ababa agrees to resume serious negotiations leading to a legally binding agreement on GERD, the crisis can be contained.

However, if Ethiopia continues to create new realities on the Nile, the scope for a diplomatic solution will narrow, making risk management and deterrence a more prominent part of Egypt’s strategy.

El-Behairy does not expect the escalation to pave the way for new negotiations on GERD unless the Ethiopian government is willing to make concessions in response to Cairo’s demands. These demands include reaching a legally binding agreement that guarantees Egypt’s water rights during periods of drought and severe drought, and providing Egypt with information regarding the operation of the dam in a manner that does not harm its water interests.

Features

Train to Nowhere? South Korea’s Lonely Push for Peace with the North

A locomotive is seen at the Woljeong-ri Station in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in South Korea, near the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea on August 10, 2026. (AFP)
A locomotive is seen at the Woljeong-ri Station in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in South Korea, near the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea on August 10, 2026. (AFP)
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Train to Nowhere? South Korea’s Lonely Push for Peace with the North

A locomotive is seen at the Woljeong-ri Station in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in South Korea, near the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea on August 10, 2026. (AFP)
A locomotive is seen at the Woljeong-ri Station in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in South Korea, near the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea on August 10, 2026. (AFP)

Near the heavily fortified frontier dividing the Korean peninsula, the abandoned Woljeong-ri station is being recast as a symbol of South Korea's hopes to reconcile with the North.

But plans to reconnect South Korea's northernmost station to the rail network come at an awkward moment, as Pyongyang ignores Seoul's overtures while the South's old ally Washington pursues its own talks with Pyongyang.

A turbulent few days have raised doubts about the role of South Korea in any diplomatic push, despite President Lee Jae Myung's dovish line on the North since taking power last year.

US President Donald Trump abruptly scaled back annual military drills with Seoul this week, calling them "inappropriate and hostile" towards the nuclear-armed North.

He also berated South Korea for not helping in his war against Iran and said he would meet the North's leader Kim Jong Un this year.

North Korea then fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, while Kim's powerful sister mocked Seoul's "master-servant" relationship with Washington.

The developments have overshadowed the Lee administration's outreach, including the Woljeong-ri project aimed at "eventual" reconciliation.

The modest station -- originally located inside today's demilitarized zone (DMZ) -- once sat on a line linking Seoul to Wonsan, but was destroyed during the 1950-53 Korean War. It was reconstructed at its current site in the border town of Cheorwon in 1988.

It is now an attraction for visitors to the nearby DMZ separating the two countries, and the line's former terminus -- Wonsan -- lies in North Korea.

Its history, however, underscores how vulnerable such hopes are to the politics of the peninsula.

Work began in 2015 but ground to a halt just a year later after North Korea's fourth nuclear test.

The latest reboot inspires more skepticism than hope for some in Cheorwon.

"It seems like they keep trying to reconcile with North Korea (through the railway project), but from our point of view, it isn't really practical," said resident Moon Jae-yong, 70.

- Lonely push for peace -

South Korea's reconciliation program eventually aims to restore rail links, such as Woljeong-ri, with the North.

Lee has also said he is ready for talks with Pyongyang without preconditions, including on formally ending the Korean War, which concluded with an armistice.

His unification minister said in July that Seoul had shifted from prioritizing denuclearization to curbing the expansion of North Korea's nuclear program.

But Pyongyang -- emboldened by support from traditional ally China, and Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine it is backing -- has been unmoved.

It has repeatedly declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state and labelled Seoul its "most hostile" enemy.

The US leader may be trying to revive diplomacy to record a foreign policy win ahead of November's midterm elections, with many voters disenchanted by his intervention in the Middle East.

That has sidelined Seoul, with Lee voicing respect for Trump's decision and pledging to "do his utmost" to support his peacemaking efforts.

South Korea is "reasonably afraid that it gets sidelined -- China, Russia and now America are all engaged with Pyongyang in different ways, while Seoul is not," Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, told AFP.

"So, Seoul is desperate to get some opening with North Korea. But it can do very little, so far."

- Impossible dream? -

That leaves the rail project standing as a symbol of South Korea's lonely push for peace.

Along the disused line from Woljeong-ri towards Baengmagoji station to the south -- the section to be restored under the peace project -- vegetation crowds both sides of the tracks, nearly swallowing a stone wall.

"The iron horse wants to run," a sign reads, alongside a phrase in English: "We want to be back on track."

Preparing infrastructure in the South now could save time if inter-Korean links are eventually restored, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University.

"But realistically, it is virtually impossible under the current circumstances, and everyone knows that," he told AFP.

With few options on North Korea, Seoul has turned to projects it can "pursue unilaterally", Lim said.

The project also aims to boost tourism along the border, where residents face frequent disruptions and security risks.

Pyongyang sent trash-filled balloons and broadcast unsettling noises across the border during the administration of Lee's hawkish predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol.

Kim Sun-hee, 70, described them as "like scraping cement, or even ghost-like noises. It was really frightening".

A bombed-out locomotive from the Korean War remains near Woljeong-ri station as a reminder of the division.

It is "heartbreaking to see", said visitor Ahn Seung-hyun.