US Recommends Designating Badr Organization's Leader, PMF Factions as Terrorists

A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
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US Recommends Designating Badr Organization's Leader, PMF Factions as Terrorists

A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
A convoy of US vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, on October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) in the US Congress has recommended designating the “Badr Organization” and its head and secretary-general Hadi al-Ameri, in addition to several factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) as terrorists.

Al-Hurra news station revealed that the report published by RSC stressed that Badr Organization, Ameri, and factions of Kataib al-Imam Ali, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas, Jund al-Islam, among others should be classified as terrorists.

For his part, Ameri pinned high hopes on the Iraqi negotiators that they will not disappoint the Iraqi people who took to the streets demanding the departure of foreign forces and the achievement of full national sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hisham Daoud's advisor affirmed that Iraq shares friendly and strong ties with the US as well as other countries in diverse fields such as military, security, energy, culture, and education.

Daoud stressed that the US is a key state and Iraq needs to be on good terms with countries of strong economies.

Earlier, Iraq asked for Washington’s help in the fight against ISIS but Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government affirms now that Iraq has military capabilities and potentials to face internal risks and terrorism, he noted.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, MP and committee member Aras Habib Karim said that what matters in the current Iraqi-US talks is that it outlines a roadmap for future ties between the two countries.

"It is my belief that the government of Iraq is going to want to retain US and coalition forces," General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of US forces in the region, said in an online conference sponsored by a Washington think tank.

"And as you know, from my perspective, we're in Iraq to finish the defeat of ISIS and to support Iraq as they finish that defeat and come to a final, final victory against it," he said.



18,000 Syrians Returned Home from Jordan Since Assad’s Fall

Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
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18,000 Syrians Returned Home from Jordan Since Assad’s Fall

Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)

About 18,000 Syrians have crossed into their country from Jordan since the government of Bashar Assad was toppled earlier this month, Jordanian authorities said on Thursday.
Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya told state TV channel Al-Mamlaka that “around 18,000 Syrians have returned to their country between the fall of the regime of Bashar Assad on December 8, 2024 until Thursday.”
He said the returnees included 2,300 refugees registered with the United Nations.
Amman says it has hosted about 1.3 million Syrians who fled their country since civil war broke out in 2011, with 650,000 formally registered with the United Nations.

Earlier this month, Al-Faraya said that security circumstances now allow Syrian refugees to return to their country.

"What prevented refugees from returning to their country was the security issue and now this has changed,” he said.

The minister said information suggests that security conditions on the northern border of the Kingdom with Syria are stable, adding that what is happening today in Syria represents "the end of a tragedy and years of suffering."

The Jaber-Nasib border crossing, which is located about 80 kilometers west of Amman, is currently the only functioning crossing between the two countries.