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Extension of Iraqi PM’s Term Sparks Dispute within Coordination Framework

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a televised speech in Baghdad, Iraq August 30, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a televised speech in Baghdad, Iraq August 30, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)
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Extension of Iraqi PM’s Term Sparks Dispute within Coordination Framework

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a televised speech in Baghdad, Iraq August 30, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a televised speech in Baghdad, Iraq August 30, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)

The extension of the term of Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has sparked a sharp dispute within the Shiite pro-Iran Coordination Framework, revealed Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish sources.

Head of the Sadrist movement, Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr supports the extension, while powers close to Iran are seeking to thwart the move.

A source from the Hikma movement, of Ammar al-Hakim, revealed that the Shiite forces are holding secret dialogue with Sadr ahead of the formation of a new government by the Framework and that they are seeking to nominate Kadhimi as its prime minister.

One movement in the Framework believes that proposing Kadhimi to head the new cabinet would make negotiating with Sadr much smoother, it added.

Supporters of the extension have been promoting the idea to Iranian factions to persuade them to go with it.

For the first time since the eruption of the crisis in Iraq in October 2021, activists in the Framework criticized Lebanese cleric Mohammed Kawtharani, Hezbollah’s official in charge of the Iraq file, over his role in promoting the extension.

Another influential Shiite figure, secretary of the Islamic Movement of Iraq, Shibl al-Zaidi, has also been criticized.

Zaidi had previously claimed that some political forces are hindering the Framework from coming up with a unified leadership and clear political vision.

Meanwhile, a senior political source revealed that Shiite forces affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have received clear messages that “Tehran rejects the eruption of intra-Shiite strife in Iraq.”

They also are “uncomfortable” with the formation of a government that Sadr opposes.

Such a scenario will transform Sadr into a “victor in his battle with the Framework,” explained the source.

This will prompt Shiite forces, including Sadr’s rival former PM Nouri al-Maliki, to work against the development of such a scenario

On the Kurdish front, leaders of the Kurdish Democratic Party have refrained from commenting on the possibility of extending Kadhimi’s term.

One of the officials said KDP leader Masoud Barzani favors a “lasting settlement that secures the country’s political and social stability.”

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Mikati Instructs Lebanon’s Institutions to Cooperate with HTS

 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).
 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).
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Mikati Instructs Lebanon’s Institutions to Cooperate with HTS

 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).
 Activists carry Lebanese and Syrian flags, along with pictures of journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated by the former Syrian regime, during a demonstration in Beirut (EPA).

Communication channels have been opened between the Lebanese state and the Syrian Interim Government. Diplomats conveyed a message from HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to Lebanese officials, stating that the new Syrian government has no issues with the Lebanese state.
HTS said that its problem lingers with Hezbollah, which supported the Assad regime in its attacks on the Syrian people, occupied Syrian territories, and displaced its residents.
A source close to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati indicated that the prime minister received the Syrian message “very positively” and began working toward establishing stable relations with Syria. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the source disclosed that Mikati had instructed all official institutions to collaborate with HTS, which now oversees security in Syrian territories, and to coordinate on mutual security matters between the two nations.
The first tangible result of this cooperation was a meeting held on Wednesday between a delegation from HTS and the Lebanese General Security agency at the latter’s office near the Masnaa border crossing in the Bekaa Valley. The talks resulted in agreements on coordination frameworks to ensure security on both sides of the border.
The source explained that Mikati’s primary focus is on organizing and securing the borders. Recently, he received reports from the Lebanese Army indicating that Syrian authorities had closed 80% of the illegal crossings previously used by smugglers. The source described this as a reassuring development.
In a sign of reconciliation, the source close to Mikati noted that Turkish and Qatari envoys delivered a message confirming that the new Syrian government does not intend to revisit the conflicts of the Syrian war or seek revenge against Bashar al-Assad’s allies, including Hezbollah. The message stressed that Syria has no plans to retaliate against Hezbollah for its actions during the war, such as detaining Syrian opposition figures in Lebanon, provided that Hezbollah withdraws from Syria and ceases all military and security activities there.
Further reflecting this shift, a security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that HTS had previously facilitated the safe transfer of dozens of Hezbollah fighters and their families from Syria to Lebanon without harming or targeting them.
Despite these developments, there has yet to be any official communication between the Lebanese government and Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the transitional leader of Syria, even though two weeks have passed since the fall of the Assad regime.
Former Lebanese minister Rashid Derbas commented that Mikati had recently made an exploratory visit to Ankara to understand how the situation in Syria is unfolding. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Derbas stated that the armed factions now responsible for security in Syria face a major test of their ability to maintain stability until a new political authority is established through free and fair elections reflecting the will of the Syrian people. He noted that the Syrian Army no longer has a presence on the ground.
Derbas added that while Syrian statements about relations with Lebanon have been positive, Lebanon must remain cautious and alert to the possibility of chaos erupting in Syria and spilling over into its borders.