Fatah Alliance Calls for Annulment of Iraq Elections Results

Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)
Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)
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Fatah Alliance Calls for Annulment of Iraq Elections Results

Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)
Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)

Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri accused the Iraqi Electoral Commission of several legal and technical violations, describing it as "incompetent."

Amiri asserted that the Alliance would follow legal measures and not resort to escalation through protests and demonstrations.

Some Baghdad political observers expect the coordinating framework groups to return to protests to impose their conditions.

The final results of the Electoral Commission showed that Fatah won 17 seats, compared to 48 seats in the previous parliamentary session.

Fatah based its arguments on an old report that claimed the voting machines of the German firm, Hensoldt, were not adequate. Hensoldt was tasked with auditing the devices and software used to count and compile votes of the 2018 elections.

"The election results proved the incompetence of the [electoral] commission to manage it [the vote]," Amiri a press conference.

He indicated the Alliance had doubts about these devices from the beginning, saying the Commission did not submit any report on the elections until the dissolution of the parliament, and this is a legal violation.

The Commission should have handed over the results to all the candidates, but it did not abide by this, said Amiri, adding there is a vast difference in votes handed over to the candidates and the announced results.

The Alliance submitted appeals to the Federal Court with evidence of forgery, and it has six reports on the Commission's violations of the law.

During a press conference, lawmaker Adnan Faihan, a member of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, said that the German company confirmed there were issues in reading voters' fingerprints.

Last week, the Electoral Commission responded to reports about the German company, stressing that there was no election fraud and judicial verdicts are decisive and binding to all.

Member of its media team, Imad Jamil, said that claims about the company were observations reported before the elections.

Jamil explained that the company was brought to the counting center and examined the devices and spare parts, and the producing Korean company processed them.

He stressed that the Commission did not conceal the report of the German company, which indicated that the procedures for opening, closing, transferring, and other related procedures were done correctly.

Jamil also indicated that the Commission responded to several voting issues promptly, and the electoral system's problems did not impact the results.

The company pointed in its report that the Commission addressed quickly and effectively all problems, which allowed the verification of data inputs and outputs on multiple levels, Jamil noted, stressing that no foreign party attempted at any time to influence the review or interfere with it.



Libya Says International Aviation Restrictions Lifted After 11 Years

Airplanes are seen at Mitiga airport in Tripoli, Libya April 8, 2019. (Reuters)
Airplanes are seen at Mitiga airport in Tripoli, Libya April 8, 2019. (Reuters)
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Libya Says International Aviation Restrictions Lifted After 11 Years

Airplanes are seen at Mitiga airport in Tripoli, Libya April 8, 2019. (Reuters)
Airplanes are seen at Mitiga airport in Tripoli, Libya April 8, 2019. (Reuters)

Libya's Ministry of Transport said on Monday that airspace restrictions issued by the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization in 2015 during the country's civil war have been removed.

The ministry said the decision, which was formally issued on October 23, was announced by ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar at the opening of a meeting of civil aviation officials from the Middle East in Doha.

"This measure comes as a result of ‌the notable ‌progress made and the confidence placed in ‌the ⁠capabilities of the ⁠Libyan civil aviation sector in recent times," the Tripoli-based Ministry of Transport said in a statement on its verified Facebook page.

The ministry, in a separate statement, said the North African country has received requests for permits to transit Libyan airspace that it characterized as "unprecedented demand from international airlines."

"The ⁠total number of permits registered for ‌2026-2027 winter season has surged ‌to 61,968 flights per month, effective from this November," the ministry ‌said, calling it a significant jump from an average ‌of 2,000 transit flights per month during the 2025-2026 season.

"Such an increase will generate substantial financial revenues using Libyan airspace," it added.

Libya slid into chaos after the fall of ‌Moammar al-Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Three years later, a civil war broke ⁠out between ⁠armed factions vying for power and divided the country between eastern and western administrations.

The war caused damage to up to 20 aircraft, including Airbus models, at Tripoli International Airport in 2014.

There are currently few airlines operating flights in and out of Libya, with destinations such as Tunisia, Jordan, Türkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

The ICAO's decision would be circulated to all 193 member states for their implementation, the ministry added.


Iraq Sentences Seven French Nationals to Life in Prison for Joining ISIS

Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council (archive - local media)
Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council (archive - local media)
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Iraq Sentences Seven French Nationals to Life in Prison for Joining ISIS

Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council (archive - local media)
Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council (archive - local media)

An Iraqi court on Tuesday sentenced seven French nationals of Algerian origin to prison terms ranging from 15 years to life for joining the ISIS extremist group and terrorizing civilians, the German news agency dpa reported.

The verdicts were handed down during a public hearing attended by court-appointed defense lawyers. Six of the defendants received life sentences of 20 years, while the seventh was sentenced to 15 years for membership in the militant group, working with it in Syria, and spreading fear among civilians.

The judge said the rulings were intended to rehabilitate the convicts and give them an opportunity to put their lives back on track.


Jordan Says its Strikes on Syria Killed More Than 20 ISIS Militants

Syrians stand near a crater following a Jordanian airstrike in the Daraa countryside in southern Syria, 27 October 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED AL RIFAI
Syrians stand near a crater following a Jordanian airstrike in the Daraa countryside in southern Syria, 27 October 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED AL RIFAI
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Jordan Says its Strikes on Syria Killed More Than 20 ISIS Militants

Syrians stand near a crater following a Jordanian airstrike in the Daraa countryside in southern Syria, 27 October 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED AL RIFAI
Syrians stand near a crater following a Jordanian airstrike in the Daraa countryside in southern Syria, 27 October 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED AL RIFAI

Jordan said its air force killed more than 20 ISIS militants in strikes on southern Syria on Monday night.

The attacks - which ⁠the kingdom said ⁠on Monday were conducted in coordination with Damascus - avoided ⁠known civilian areas, Jordan's Government Communication Minister, Mohammed al-Momani, said on X on Tuesday.

In Syria, officials said the Jordanian operation killed several civilians and was carried out without notifying Syrian authorities.

A deadly attack struck the Greek Orthodox Church during a funeral in Karak, about 90 kilometers south of the capital, Amman, on Friday. Karak is home to a minority Christian population.

Earlier on Monday, Jordanian authorities arrested three men for the attack that killed nine and wounded more than two dozen people.

The arrests followed a dawn shootout, and all three men were wounded, officials said.

Later on Monday, the Public Security Directorate identified the three arrested men as brothers Hazzah Zaidan Mohammad and Mishal Zaidan Mohammad, and their brother-in-law Ahmad Sami Hussein. All three are Jordanian. They were taken into custody in Karak.