‘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)
TT

‘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.



Relatives of Bashar Assad Arrested as They Tried to Fly Out of Lebanon, Officials Say

A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Relatives of Bashar Assad Arrested as They Tried to Fly Out of Lebanon, Officials Say

A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)

The wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad ’s cousins were arrested Friday at the Beirut airport, where they attempted to fly out with allegedly forged passports, Lebanese judicial and security officials said. Assad’s uncle departed the day before.

Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad — the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad — and their daughter, Shams, were smuggled illegally into Lebanon and were trying to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to five Lebanese officials familiar with the case.

They were being detained by Lebanese General Security. Rifaat had flown out the day before on his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Swiss federal prosecutors in March indicted Rifaat on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago.

Rifaat Assad, the brother of Bashar Assad's father Hafez Assad, Syria's former ruler, led the artillery unit that shelled the city of Hama and killed thousands, earning him the nickname the “Butcher of Hama.”

Earlier this year, Rifaat Assad was indicted in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Hama.

Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night of Assad’s fall earlier this month, when insurgent forces entered Damascus.

The Lebanese security and judicial officials said that more than 20 members of the former Syrian Army’s notorious 4th Division, military intelligence officers and others affiliated with Assad’s security forces were arrested earlier in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested when they attempted to sell their weapons.

Lebanon’s public prosecution office also received an Interpol notice requesting the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, the former director of Syrian intelligence under Assad. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati previously told Reuters that Lebanon would cooperate with the Interpol request to arrest al-Hassan.