Iraq Prosecution to Probe 'Maliki WikiLeaks'

A supporter of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr lifts a placard depicting him during a a collective Friday prayer in Sadr City, east of Baghdad on July 15, 2022. (AFP)
A supporter of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr lifts a placard depicting him during a a collective Friday prayer in Sadr City, east of Baghdad on July 15, 2022. (AFP)
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Iraq Prosecution to Probe 'Maliki WikiLeaks'

A supporter of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr lifts a placard depicting him during a a collective Friday prayer in Sadr City, east of Baghdad on July 15, 2022. (AFP)
A supporter of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr lifts a placard depicting him during a a collective Friday prayer in Sadr City, east of Baghdad on July 15, 2022. (AFP)

Iraq’s judiciary is expected to examine two complaints to probe the voice recordings attributed to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in which he criticized politicians, notably his rival cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Known in Iraq as the “Maliki WikiLeaks”, the former PM threatened to attack Najaf city to protect the country’s highest Shiite authority should Sadr attack it himself.

Lawyers who filed the complaints have demanded that Maliki be held accountable for the recordings, which they said “harm national security and incite strife and sectarian violence.”

A rights source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Maliki may be tried in a special court over terrorism charges.

He added, however, that a trial is unlikely because the judiciary in Iraq is politicized.

On Wednesday, activist and journalist Ali Fadhel released around one minute of the recording. He has around 48 minutes worth of recordings and will release a minute or two a day so that they will have a popular and political impact in the country.

In the latest recording on Sunday, Maliki said: “The coming phase is that of fighting. I told this yesterday to Prime Minister [Mustafa] al-Kadhimi.”

“I told him that I am not relying on you, the army or the police. They will not do anything,” he was heard saying.

“Iraq is approaching a brutal war from which no one will emerge unscathed unless we manage to stop Sadr, [parliament Speaker Mohammed] al-Halbousi and Masoud Barzani,” he added.

Maliki’s remarks clearly date back to two months when the Sadr-Halbousi-Barzani alliance was still standing. Around a month ago, Sadr’s parliamentary bloc of 73 MPs resigned from the legislature.

Maliki was also heard saying that he was arming ten to 15 groups “in preparation for the critical phase.”

He said he would attack Najaf and protect the Shiite authority and the people should Sadr attack.

The former PM also expressed his disappointment with the Popular Mobilization Forces, ruling out the possibility of working with them and describing them as a “nation of cowards.”

Maliki has since twice denied that his voice was in the recordings.

Iraqis have dismissed his denial, saying the voice and ideas expressed in the recordings were “exactly how the former PM would think and act.”

Iraqi researcher at Arizona State University Saleem Suzah said he has no doubt that the recordings are that of Maliki.

In a Facebook post, he added that the tone of voice and manner of speaking heard in the recordings match Maliki’s.

Political researcher Yehya al-Kabisi said Maliki’s remarks are nothing new as these are statements he has often spoken to his guests. But this is the first time they are released in the open.

Sadr, meanwhile, has dismissed the recordings and called on his supporters to do the same because “we have no regard for Maliki.”



UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

UN officials on Monday asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors to help ease what they called the world's worst ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by civil war.

The UN appeal represents a rise of more than 40% from last year's for Sudan at a time when aid budgets around the world are under strain, partly due to a pause in funding announced by US President Donald Trump last month that has affected life-saving programs across the globe.

The UN says the funds are necessary because the impact of the 22-month war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - that has already displaced a fifth of its population and stoked severe hunger among around half its population - looks set to worsen.

World Food Program chief Cindy McCain, speaking via video to a room full of diplomats in Geneva, said: "Sudan is now the epicenter of the world's largest and most severe hunger crisis ever."

She did not provide figures, but Sudan's total population currently stands at about 48 million people. Among previous world famines, the Bengal Famine of 1943 claimed between 2 million and 3 million lives, according to several estimates, while millions are believed to have died in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61.

Famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, a UN statement said, and this was set to worsen with continued fighting and the collapse of basic services.

"This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and its gravity and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

One of the famine-stricken camps was attacked by the RSF last week as the group tries to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold.

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to provide aid in Sudan, uncertainty remains on the extent of coverage for providing famine relief.

The UN plan aims to reach nearly 21 million people within the country, making it the most ambitious humanitarian response so far for 2025, and requires $4.2 billion - the rest being for those displaced by the conflict.