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‘Serious’ Indications of Possible Assassination Attempts in Baghdad, Other Iraqi Cities

Iraqi security forces walk with their weapons (File photo: Reuters)
Iraqi security forces walk with their weapons (File photo: Reuters)
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‘Serious’ Indications of Possible Assassination Attempts in Baghdad, Other Iraqi Cities

Iraqi security forces walk with their weapons (File photo: Reuters)
Iraqi security forces walk with their weapons (File photo: Reuters)

Senior security officials have said there were "serious" indications of possible assassinations in Baghdad and other cities, against the backdrop of the ongoing political conflict between Muqtada Sadr's movement and the Coordination Framework.

An Iraqi security source quoted Iraqi officers of the Interior Ministry and the National Security Service as saying that they expected assassination attempts against activists from the Sadr Movement and Tishreen Forces.

Local media circulated a document issued by the Baghdad Operations Command that included information about the intention of armed groups to carry out assassinations. Although it was not possible to verify the authenticity of the text, the security source confirmed the presence of such a document.

Iraqi activists fear the Iraqi government will not be able to deter the murder attempts.

An activist from the Tishreen Movement said that the protest committees in Baghdad and other cities circulated security information about threats to activists, warning them against engaging in a plot to overthrow legitimacy, and working with the Sadrist movement.

However, militants loyal to the Sadrist movement are still launching attacks on the headquarters of the Framework parties, and targeting the homes of leaders of the armed factions.

A Sadrist official said they met with Tishreen officials, but did not agree on unifying any move except for agreeing on the same goals.

The Sadrist movement is trying to pressure the Iraqi government to take quick measures to “dismantle” the armed factions in the Green Zone, and make structural changes in the leadership of the Popular Mobilization Authority (PMA).

A Sadrist spokesman asked Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi to remove the head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Faleh al-Fayyadh.

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Sudanese Political Factions Meet in Cairo with Little Prospect of Peace

People fleeing the town of Singa, the capital of Sudan's southeastern Sennar state, arrive in Gedaref in the east of the war-torn country on July 2, 2024. (AFP)
People fleeing the town of Singa, the capital of Sudan's southeastern Sennar state, arrive in Gedaref in the east of the war-torn country on July 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Sudanese Political Factions Meet in Cairo with Little Prospect of Peace

People fleeing the town of Singa, the capital of Sudan's southeastern Sennar state, arrive in Gedaref in the east of the war-torn country on July 2, 2024. (AFP)
People fleeing the town of Singa, the capital of Sudan's southeastern Sennar state, arrive in Gedaref in the east of the war-torn country on July 2, 2024. (AFP)

Rival Sudanese political factions formally attended reconciliation talks in Cairo on Saturday, the first since a conflict in the country began almost 15 months ago, but admitted there was little prospect of quickly ending the war.

During the conference the Democratic Bloc, which is aligned with the army, refused to hold joint sessions with Taqaddum faction, which it accuses of sympathizing with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Neither the army nor the RSF attended.

The war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, sparked warnings of famine and waves of ethnically-driven violence.

The force this week swept through the state of Sennar, causing new displacement. In response, army head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the military would not negotiate with the RSF or its supporters.

"The stark deterioration in the humanitarian situation and the catastrophic consequences of this crisis, call on all of us to work to immediately and sustainably to stop military operations," said newly-appointed Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

Talks in Jeddah between the army and RSF that were sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia broke down at the end of last year.

Taqaddum is a coalition of pro-democracy parties, armed groups, and civil society that has called for an end to the war. The army-aligned Democratic Bloc includes several armed group leaders participating in the fighting.

While Egypt was able to wield its influence to assemble the group, the main attendees were seated at opposite sides of the hall at the conference's opening.

The two political factions agreed only to form a small subcommittee to come up with a final communique calling for an end to the war, which three Democratic Bloc leaders with forces fighting alongside the army did not sign.

"We told them [the Egyptians] not to have high ambitions for this meeting," Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim told Reuters. He along with Darfur governor Minni Minawi and Sovereign Council deputy Malik Agar did not sign the communique.

"Given the situation on the ground, if we sit and eat and drink and laugh with the people who are allied and partners in the crimes that are happening we would be sending the wrong message to our citizens and to our soldiers," he said.

He added that an end to the war was not realistic without the withdrawal of the RSF from civilian areas, in line with an agreement signed in Jeddah last year.

Former Prime Minister and Taqaddum head Abdalla Hamdok rejected accusations that the coalition was linked to the RSF, saying he awaited the army's agreement to meet.

"A crisis this complicated and deep is not expected to end in one meeting... The lesson is for us to be patient and to build on anything positive that comes out of it," he told Reuters, echoing sentiments from diplomats at the meeting.

US Special Envoy Tom Perriello said he hoped momentum from Saturday's talks would carry on to another meeting called by the African Union next week, another of several overlapping initiatives.