Supporters of Losing PMF Factions Surround Baghdad’s Green Zone

Pro-Iran militia supporters protest against the elections results in Baghdad. (AFP file photo)
Pro-Iran militia supporters protest against the elections results in Baghdad. (AFP file photo)
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Supporters of Losing PMF Factions Surround Baghdad’s Green Zone

Pro-Iran militia supporters protest against the elections results in Baghdad. (AFP file photo)
Pro-Iran militia supporters protest against the elections results in Baghdad. (AFP file photo)

Supporters of the so-called Coordination Framework, which brings together the majority of Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) factions that lost the recent Iraqi parliamentary elections, staged a protest around Baghdad’s Green Zone on Sunday.

The Green Zone is home to the majority of government buildings and foreign embassies and missions.

The protest was held in an apparent attempt to exert more pressure on the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to force it to amend what they perceive are errors in the electoral process.

The losing factions had rejected the results of the elections, dismissing them as a sham. Their supporters have been holding rallies in protest of their outcomes in spite of international assertions that the polls were fair and lacked any major violations.

The protests were held as the deadline given by the so-called “organizational committee” of the rallies expires on Tuesday. The committee had given the IHEC three days to “amend the electoral process,” calling for a manual recount of the votes.

Coordination Framework protesters had set up tents near the Green Zone on Saturday for what appears to be an open-ended sit-in in the area.

They had kicked off their protests last week. Supporters of the pro-Iran Fatah alliance are among the demonstrators. The alliance was among the biggest losers in the elections, dropping some 30 seats from 48.

Supporters of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition, which had emerged as a surprise winner with 34 seats, had also joined the protests.

Informed sources have said that the majority of the protesters are loyal to the PMF and armed factions and that they had taken to the streets at the orders of the higher commanders of the PMF.

Influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who was the victor in the polls, and other winners are wary and have been critical of the protests.

“The losing forces are trying to extort the IHEC to force it to change the results,” said some of the critics.

Maliki at one point had called on the protesters to voice their objections in a civil and organized manner so that the rallies cannot be exploited by rioters.

It remains to be seen what move the protesters, and their backers, will make next.

Hashem al-Kandi, who is close to the armed factions and the so-called “resistance axis”, has said that all options are open after Tuesday’s deadline ends.

Among the options are the storming of the Green Zone and reaching the IHEC and prime minister’s office “to force the government to respect the choices of the people.”

Local observers have ruled out the possibility that the escalation of the losing forces would reach the point of no return given the dangerous repercussions that may have on Iraq, including possible clashes between rival Shiite groups.

They believe that the escalation is aimed at reaping whatever additional parliamentary seats they can get their hands on or at least securing the share of pro-Iran factions in the next government.

Member of the Coordination Framework and head of the Hikma alliance Ammar al-Hakim urged on Saturday the IHEC to seriously consider electoral appeals and complaints “to reflect a shining image of democracy in Iraq.”

He stressed the need for all sides to follow legal and peaceful means to demand their rights.

The IHEC had rejected 95 percent of appeals that have been submitted, citing insufficient evidence and criteria.

On Sunday, it said it will manually recount votes from 234 voting stations based on 18 valid appeals that were submitted in the Salaheddine, Basra and Baghdad provinces.

The recount will be held in the presence of the relevant officials and representatives of competing candidates.



‘War Ruined Me’: Lebanon’s Farmers Mourn Lost Season

This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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‘War Ruined Me’: Lebanon’s Farmers Mourn Lost Season

This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Lebanese farmer Abu Taleb briefly returned to his orchard last month to salvage an avocado harvest but ran away empty handed as soon as Israeli air raids began.

"The war broke out just before the first harvest season," said Abu Taleb, displaced from the village of Tayr Debba near the southern city Tyre.

"When I went back in mid-October, it was deserted... it was scary," said the father of two, who is now sheltering in Tripoli more than 160 kilometers to the north and asked to be identified by a pseudonym because of security concerns.

Abu Taleb said his harvesting attempt was interrupted by an Israeli raid on the neighboring town of Markaba.

He was forced back to Tripoli without the avocados he usually exports every year.

Agricultural regions in Lebanon have been caught in the crossfire since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah ramped up in October last year, a full-scale war breaking out on September 23.

The UN's agriculture agency, FAO, said more than 1,909 hectares of farmland in south Lebanon had been damaged or left unharvested between October last year and September 28.

The conflict has also displaced more than half a million people, including farmers who abandoned their crops just when they were ready to harvest.

Hani Saad had to abandon 120 hectares of farmland in the southern region of Nabatiyeh, which is rich in citrus and avocado plantations.

"If the ceasefire takes place within a month, I can save the harvest, otherwise, the whole season is ruined," said Saad who has been displaced to the coastal city of Jounieh, north of Beirut.

When an Israeli strike sparked a fire in one of Saad's orchards, he had to pay out of his own pocket for the fuel of the fire engine that extinguished the blaze.

His employees, meanwhile, have fled. Of 32 workers, 28 have left, mainly to neighboring Syria.

- 'Worst phase' -

Israeli strikes have put at least two land crossings with Syria out of service, blocking a key export route for produce and crops.

Airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon as insurance costs soar.

This has dealt a deadly blow to agricultural exports, most of which are destined for Gulf Arab states.

Fruit exporter Chadi Kaadan said exports to the Gulf have dropped by more than 50 percent.

The supply surplus in the local market has caused prices to plummet at home, he added.

"In the end, it is the farmer who loses," said Saad who used to earn $5,000 a day before the war started. Today, he barely manages $300.

While avocados can stay on the tree for months, they are starting to run out of water following Israeli strikes on irrigation channels, Saad said.

Citrus fruits and cherimoyas have already started to fall.

"The war has ruined me. I spend my time in front of the TV waiting for a ceasefire so I can return to my livelihood," Saad told AFP.

Gaby Hage, a resident of the Christian town of Rmeish, on the border with Israel, is one of the few farmers who decided to stay in south Lebanon.

He has only been able to harvest 100 of his 350 olive trees, which were left untended for a year because of cross-border strikes.

"I took advantage of a slight lull in the fighting to pick what I could," he told AFP.

Hage said agriculture was a lifeline for the inhabitants of his town, which has been cut off by the war.

Ibrahim Tarchichi, president of the farmers' union in the Bekaa Valley, which was hit hard by the strikes, believes that agriculture in Lebanon is going through the "worst phase" of its recent history.

"I have experienced four wars, it has never been this serious," he said.