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Anger Grows in Iraq over Full Curfew

A street in Baghdad amid during full curfew (AP)
A street in Baghdad amid during full curfew (AP)
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Anger Grows in Iraq over Full Curfew

A street in Baghdad amid during full curfew (AP)
A street in Baghdad amid during full curfew (AP)

The Iraqi government imposed a full nationwide curfew in Iraq to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking anger among Iraqis who fear the repercussions of lockdown on their livelihood.

Many Iraqis called on the authorities to cancel the 10-day full curfew which went into effect on Thursday, especially that the government did not provide financial aid for the poor during lockdown.

In this regard, Fadel Al-Gharawi, a member of the Human Rights Commission in Iraq, said that the strict measures imposed by the government were security-related.

"These measures are being implemented without taking into account the humanitarian situation in the country,” said Al-Gharawi.

“Thousands of families live on daily incomes, of which they were deprived during the lockdown.”

He pointed out that “Iraq does not need a total lockdown, but rather needs to enforce preventive measures and encourage citizens to receive vaccines.”

Al-Gharawi called on the concerned authorities to ease the restrictive measures and cancel the total lockdown, giving more freedom to those who were vaccinated.

Iraq has seen a surge of new infections in recent weeks. It reported 4,512 new cases on Thursday, raising the total number of infections to 130,000 cases, of which 15,883 have died.

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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)
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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.”