Iraq: Maliki’s Coalition Denies Striking ‘Secret Alliance’ with Abadi

An Iraqi woman casts her vote during the 2014 elections. (Reuters)
An Iraqi woman casts her vote during the 2014 elections. (Reuters)
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Iraq: Maliki’s Coalition Denies Striking ‘Secret Alliance’ with Abadi

An Iraqi woman casts her vote during the 2014 elections. (Reuters)
An Iraqi woman casts her vote during the 2014 elections. (Reuters)

The State of Law Coalition, headed by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, denied on Thursday that he had signed a secret agreement with current Premier Haidar al-Abadi over the formation of a new government after the May parliamentary elections.

Coalition spokesman Abbas al-Moussawi said in a statement: “Talk of post-elections alliances between the State of Law Coalition and any other bloc is premature.”

“Any claims about this issue are inaccurate,” he added.

“The Coalition is concerned with the constitutional political majority and it is open to alliances and cooperation with political blocs that share its political vision and agree with its agenda,” he remarked.

Earlier, MP Ali al-Allaq, of the Al-Nasr Coalition, had spoken of a handwritten deal between Maliki and Abadi to strike an alliance after the parliamentary elections in order to establish the largest political bloc that can form a government.

Allaq is also affiliated with Abadi’s Dawa party.

Political Iraqi circles were alarmed with his revelation, saying that despite the two leaders’ apparent disagreement, they are in fact seeking to monopolize the formation of a new government.

Disputes between Maliki and Abadi had first erupted after the latter accepted the post of premier in 2014 at the former’s expense.

MP Jabbar al-Abadi, who is close to the PM, condemned Allaq’s statements, saying that “they do not favor” either Abadi or Maliki.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that should even such a deal between the two officials exist, it will remain secret and it cannot be revealed to the public.

“Everyone knows of the rift between Maliki and Abadi. Anyone who favors the former will be opposed to the latter,” he added.

He therefore ruled Allaq’s claim as an attempt to deceive the public.

State of Law MP Rihab al-Abbouda meanwhile also denied the existence of such a deal between the rival Iraqi officials, saying that such a claim was aimed at making electoral gains.



Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
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Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert said that the “humanitarian city” that Israel’s defense minister has proposed building on the ruins of Rafah would be a concentration camp, and forcing Palestinians inside would be ethnic cleansing, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

Israel was already committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, Olmert told the daily, and construction of the camp would mark an escalation.

Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has ordered the military to start drawing up operational plans for construction of the “humanitarian city” on the ruins of southern Gaza, to house initially 600,000 people and eventually the entire Palestinian population, stated the Guardian.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told he daily, when asked about the plans laid out by Katz last week. Once inside, Palestinians would not be allowed to leave, except to go to other countries, Katz said.

The “humanitarian city” project is backed by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the area Katz envisages for the camp is a sticking point in the faltering negotiations for a ceasefire deal, Israeli media have reported.