‘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.



Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
TT

Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.