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Candidates Withdrawal of Iraq's Elections Raises Doubt over its Integrity

Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)
Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)
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Candidates Withdrawal of Iraq's Elections Raises Doubt over its Integrity

Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)
Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)

The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission said dozens of candidates decided to drop out of the country's parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10, raising doubts over the poll's credibility.

This came as hundreds of candidates had their candidacy withdrawn over their ties to the Baath party.

The Commission's spokesman, Hasan Salman, said the withdrawal requests are under review, noting that some might be rejected.

According to Salman, the electoral commission was not concerned if the decisions to drop out were personal choices or came under pressure, but rather cares if the candidates's requests met certain criteria.

Notably, the UN Security Council unanimously approved an Iraqi request for a UN team to monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections.

In 2019, tens of thousands of Iraqi protesters took to the streets against a government seen by demonstrators as corrupt, during which nearly 600 people have died.

The deaths sparked outrage across the country and prompted the resignation of then-premier Adel Abdel Mahdi.

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US to Eventually Reduce Military Bases in Syria to One, Says US Envoy

A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)
A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)
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US to Eventually Reduce Military Bases in Syria to One, Says US Envoy

A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)
A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)

The United States has begun reducing its military presence in Syria with a view to eventually closing all but one of its bases there, the US envoy for the country has said in an interview.

Six months after the ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the United States is steadily drawing down its presence as part of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), a military task force launched in 2014 to fight the ISIS.

"The reduction of our OIR engagement on a military basis is happening," the US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, said in an interview with Türkiye's NTV late on Monday.

"We've gone from eight bases to five to three. We'll eventually go to one."

But he admitted Syria still faced major security challenges under interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose coalition toppled Assad in December.

Assad's ouster brought an end to Syria's bloody 14-year civil war, but the new authorities have struggled to contain recent bouts of sectarian violence.

Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkey, called for the "integration" of the country's ethnic and religious groups.

"It's very tribal still. It's very difficult to bring it together," he said.

But "I think that will happen," he added.

The Pentagon announced in April that the United States would halve its troops in Syria to less than 1,000 in the coming months, saying the ISIS presence had been reduced to "remnants".