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Iraqi PM Starts Restructuring Administrative, Security Posts

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi takes the oath in parliament. AFP file photo
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi takes the oath in parliament. AFP file photo
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Iraqi PM Starts Restructuring Administrative, Security Posts

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi takes the oath in parliament. AFP file photo
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi takes the oath in parliament. AFP file photo

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has announced plans to restructure positions in the premiership and the military after lawmakers approved the seven ministry posts that had remained vacant since he was sworn in last month.

The PM held Sunday the first session of his 22-member cabinet.

Parliament allowed Kadhimi to create a new ministry of state and to choose its candidate from the Turkmen minority.

Turkmen were pleased by the move. Their representative Arshad Salihi said this is a serious attempt to lift injustice against them.

However, such a move was rejected by Nouri Al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition, which considered the decision a legislative violation that lacks constitutional grounds.

Iraqi sources said Kadhimi has chosen Judge Raed Jouhi as director in the premier’s office, a post that has significant political and executive powers.

Jouhi was the Iraqi judge who had led the investigation with ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The PM also chose Lt. Gen. Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah as Army Chief-of-Staff to replace Lt. Gen. Othman Al-Ghanmi.

Yarallah is considered one of the main Iraqi commanders who led the battle against ISIS from 2014 until 2017, when Iraq announced its defeat of the terrorist organization.

“Now that the cabinet lineup is complete, the Iraqis are waiting for the government to fight corruption,” Izzat Shahbandar, an independent Iraqi politician, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.

Al-Nasr Coalition, headed by former PM Haidar al-Abadi, declared its support for Kadhimi’s government despite its strong reservations on the quotas.

“The new government’s success depends on its performance during the transitional phase, topped by holding fair elections, restricting arms to the state, imposing the rule of law, meeting the demands of peaceful protesters, and punishing the perpetrators of attacks on demonstrators,” the Coalition said in a statement.

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ICRC to Expand Syria Humanitarian Efforts beyond $100 Mln Program

A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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ICRC to Expand Syria Humanitarian Efforts beyond $100 Mln Program

A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to expand its work in Syria significantly beyond an initial $100 million program, the organization's president said on Monday, citing pressing needs in the health, water and power sectors.
Syria requires $4.07 billion in aid this year, but only 33.1% has been funded, leaving a $2.73 billion gap, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The ICRC's expected expansion follows new access to all regions of the country after the toppling of president Bashar al-Assad last month.
"Our program originally for this year for Syria was $100 million, but we are likely to expand that significantly," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric told Reuters on the sidelines of a visit to the country.
She said individual donor countries had already come forward with an increase in funding for Syria.
ICRC was one of the few international organizations still operating in Syria under Assad's rule, working on infrastructure projects including water and electricity systems.
"We need to expand that work, we have a lot to do in the health sector," she added.
The organization is engaged in rehabilitation work to sustain water provision at 40% to 50% of what it was before the war, but protection of water facilities remains important as some are close to places where fighting is still under way.
"There are facilities next to the Euphrates Lake that are specific to the protection requirement at the moment," she said.
Initial assessments to begin immediate rehabilitation of Syria’s electricity systems are partly complete, but urgent financial investments and adjustments to sanctions are now required, she added.
"Certain spare parts need to be allowed to come in because that is also hampering the rehabilitation work at the moment. So there's a political dimension to it," she said.
Earlier, people briefed on the matter told Reuters that the US is set to announce an easing of restrictions on providing humanitarian aid and other basic services such as electricity to Syria while maintaining its strict sanctions regime.
On Sunday, Syria's new rulers said US sanctions were an obstacle to the country's rapid recovery and urged Washington to lift them, during a visit by Syrian officials to Qatar.