Iraqi Activist Shot Dead in Baghdad

An Iraqi soldier stands guard near residents walking towards a checkpoint in Baghdad's Sadr City May 18, 2008. (REUTERS)
An Iraqi soldier stands guard near residents walking towards a checkpoint in Baghdad's Sadr City May 18, 2008. (REUTERS)
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Iraqi Activist Shot Dead in Baghdad

An Iraqi soldier stands guard near residents walking towards a checkpoint in Baghdad's Sadr City May 18, 2008. (REUTERS)
An Iraqi soldier stands guard near residents walking towards a checkpoint in Baghdad's Sadr City May 18, 2008. (REUTERS)

An Iraqi anti-government protester was shot dead in east Baghdad by masked gunmen on Tuesday evening, according to a security source, a medic and an activist network.

Salah al-Iraqi was well-known for his active role in the rallies that erupted in Iraq's capital and the country's south last year, slamming the government as corrupt, inefficient and beholden to neighboring Iran.

Iraqi was killed in the capital's Baghdad al-Jadida district, according to a medic, a security source and the Iraqi Network for Social Media (INSM), a collection of activists who reported on the protests and their aftermath.

All three sources confirmed to AFP that Iraqi died on his arrival at the nearby Sheikh Zayed hospital.

Baghdad al-Jadida is a few kilometres from Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the capital's protests from where Iraqi, always energetic, would broadcast live footage.

INSM said he had already been targeted twice before Tuesday's shooting.

In his last post on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, Iraqi had written: "The innocent die while the cowards rule."

Nearly 600 people have lost their lives in protest-related violence since rallies began in October 2019, including young organizers who were shot dead.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who came to power in May after street pressure forced the previous premier to resign, has pledged to protect rallies and arrest those responsible for past violence.

But last week, eight local and international rights groups said they were worried about "the lack of accountability for the extrajudicial executions that have taken place this year, targeting individuals for their peaceful expression."

The authorities' "failure" to bring the perpetrators to justice was "perpetuating and further entrenching decades of impunity that have left brave individuals without the most basic protection," the groups said, which included Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.

HRW on Tuesday cited the recent case of Arshad Heibat Fakhry. The 31-year-old has not been heard from since he was detained by unidentified armed men in November.

HRW said Kadhemi's government "has precious little to show for these promises, and disappearances have continued."



Iran FM to Visit Syria, Türkiye as Tehran, Moscow Back Damascus Regime against Opposition Advances

 Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
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Iran FM to Visit Syria, Türkiye as Tehran, Moscow Back Damascus Regime against Opposition Advances

 Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Damascus on Sunday, before visiting Türkiye as part of a regional tour, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Saturday.

Earlier, Araqchi and his Russian counterpart voiced support for Syria on during a major attack by opposition groups, Iranian state media reported.  

Araqchi told Russia's Sergei Lavrov in a phone call that the attacks were part of an Israeli-US plan to destabilize the region, state media said.  

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry about the call, both sides "expressed extreme concern about the dangerous escalation of the situation in Syria due to the terrorist offensive by armed groups in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces".  

The ministers agreed on the need to intensify joint efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria.  

Iran's foreign ministry also condemned what it called "aggression by terrorist elements" against its consulate in Syria's city of Aleppo during the current opposition advances, Iranian state media reported.  

"The consul-general and all members of the consulate of Iran in Aleppo are in good health," spokesperson Baghaei told state media.  

Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Lavrov spoke on the matter with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.  

For his part, Fidan spoke by phone with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Saturday to discuss the situation in Syria, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said.  

He also spoke with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.