Iraq Fears Disastrous Consequences of Gatherings During Eid al-Adha

A man cools off from the summer heat under an open air shower in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A man cools off from the summer heat under an open air shower in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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Iraq Fears Disastrous Consequences of Gatherings During Eid al-Adha

A man cools off from the summer heat under an open air shower in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A man cools off from the summer heat under an open air shower in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Coronavirus cases have recently spiked in Iraq, sparking concerns of a growing outbreak amid a lack commitment by many citizens to health-related guidelines.

The concerns have grown bigger as the Iraqi authorities intend to lift the partial curfew during Eid al-Adha, end of July.

Last week, Baghdad declared its intention to lift the lockdown after the Eid but backed down after coming under criticism.

Riyad Abdul Amir, the director of the Ministry of Health, said that the Ministry has called for a curfew throughout the Eid.

Its request has been approved by the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety in order to avoid a wider outbreak similar to the one witnessed a week after Eid al-Fitr.

For weeks, cases have been spiking but recoveries are increasing as well, according to Abdul Amir.

The tally of cases could possibly decline if citizens continue to abide by precautionary measures, he said.

Each citizen should work on protecting himself and his family because the virus shouldn’t be underrated, he added.

Total cases in Iraq surpassed 100,000 while recoveries reached 65 percent and deaths more than 4,000.

The People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) announced burying 77 COVID-19 patients from ten provinces in the new Wadi Al-Salam Cemetery in Najaf in the past 24 hours.

In a statement, PMC revealed that the death toll from all provinces had reached 3,549 by Wednesday.

In a headway that reflects containing the pandemic in Nineveh, the Tal Afar Department of Health announced shutting down quarantine facilities following the recovery of all patients.

It confirmed that the two centers in Tal Afar were closed after ensuring the recovery of all patients there.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”