Rocket Attacks Violate Fragile Truce between US, Armed Factions in Iraq

Women weep at the funeral of family members who were killed by a rocket attack in Baghdad last week. (Reuters)
Women weep at the funeral of family members who were killed by a rocket attack in Baghdad last week. (Reuters)
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Rocket Attacks Violate Fragile Truce between US, Armed Factions in Iraq

Women weep at the funeral of family members who were killed by a rocket attack in Baghdad last week. (Reuters)
Women weep at the funeral of family members who were killed by a rocket attack in Baghdad last week. (Reuters)

Brazen rocket attacks that targeted areas close to the US embassy in Baghdad ended a fragile truce between armed factions and Washington in Iraq.

“The truce reached by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi collapsed with the recent rockets,” Dr. Ihssan Shmary, head of Center for Political Thinking in Iraq, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to Shmary, the agreement struck between Kadhimi and political wings of Iran-aligned armed factions in Iraq has failed to curb the incessant rocket attacks against international presence in Iraq.

“The attacks are aimed at mocking Kadhimi and making him look weak,” he noted, but added that the rocket attacks also are tempered according to the status of the conflict between Tehran and Washington.

Two Katyusha rockets had fallen late on Sunday in Baghdad’s Jadiriya area, near the heavily fortified Green Zone, without causing any casualties.

One of the rockets landed near the Babylon hotel, which is used by Iraqi travelers and sometimes for government meetings, the military said in the statement.

The Iraqi military blamed “terrorist groups” for the attack and said the rockets were fired from an area in the western part of the capital.

What is different about these attacks is that they did not trigger early warning systems at the US embassy, signaling that the goal behind them was not to necessarily threaten the American diplomatic mission.

The assault, according to analysts, was intended to measure government and US reactions.

Washington signaled last week that it could close its diplomatic mission in Baghdad if measures are not taken to control armed groups responsible for recent attacks against the US and other interests in the country.

Diplomatic targets within the Green Zone, home to foreign diplomatic offices and Iraqi government buildings, have repeatedly been subject to rocket attacks.

In other news, Iraqi President Barham Salih met with army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir Yarallah on Monday.

Salih said military operations should continue to defeat terrorism in the country.

Stressing the need for enhancing security and stability in Iraq, the president also emphasized that diplomatic missions should be protected.

“It is essential to strengthen the capacity of Iraqi security forces and improve their fighting ability,” he was quoted as saying.



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.