Objections Impede Announcement of New Coordination Framework Alliance in Iraq

Municipal workers perform works at the Freedom Monument in Tahrir Square in the center of Iraq's capital Baghdad on September 24, 2022. (AFP)
Municipal workers perform works at the Freedom Monument in Tahrir Square in the center of Iraq's capital Baghdad on September 24, 2022. (AFP)
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Objections Impede Announcement of New Coordination Framework Alliance in Iraq

Municipal workers perform works at the Freedom Monument in Tahrir Square in the center of Iraq's capital Baghdad on September 24, 2022. (AFP)
Municipal workers perform works at the Freedom Monument in Tahrir Square in the center of Iraq's capital Baghdad on September 24, 2022. (AFP)

The Shiite pro-Iran Coordination Framework in Iraq was on the verge of announcing a new alliance that would be tasked with forming a new government.

Prominent Shiite leaders, however, called for suspending the announcement until it is certain that Sadrist movement leader, Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and members of the October protest movement would not oppose it.

The “management of the state” alliance would include the Framework, Sunni Sovereignty and Azm alliances and Kurdish Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, comprising around 273 lawmakers.

Former Prime Minister and longtime Sadr rival, Nouri al-Maliki has been the most eager member of the Framework to unveil the alliance, but sources said that “the emergence of fundamental objections by Shiite leaders” has put the announcement on hold.

Three main objections have emerged and were the subject of hours of discussions by Framework members, who are under immense pressure from the Sadr and the protest movement.

The first objection came from Hadi al-Ameri, leader of the Badr Organization, who called for putting the announcement of the alliance on hold until guarantees are obtained from Sadr. The guarantees can only be secured by meeting with the cleric.

The objection did not sit well with Maliki, who has been urging his colleagues to “overcome their fear of the Sadrist movement.”

The second objection came from head of the Hikma movement, Ammar al-Hakim, who supports the formation of a government of independent figures and representatives of the protest movement.

The third objection was voiced by former Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, who has called for the Framework’s withdrawal of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's nomination as prime minister.

The nomination had sparked street protests by Sadrists that in turn led to clashes with the Framework that put Iraq on the brink of conflict. Insisting on his nomination would risk enflaming tensions with Sadr.

Figures close to Abadi said these objections forced the Framework to delay the announcement of the new alliance.

Meanwhile, on the ground, hundreds of elite members of the armed factions have redeployed in Baghdad’s Green Zone as the October protest movement prepares to commemorate the third anniversary of their anti-government demonstrations.

The “management of the state” alliance not only excludes Sadr, whose 73 MPs resigned from parliament earlier this year in protest against the ongoing political stalemate, but Turkmen figures as well.

Turkmen officials expressed their disappointment at the exclusion, noting that the group is the third largest in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds.

With 273 MPs, the new alliance would be able to elect a new president and designate a new prime minister to form a government. A president is elected with 220 votes and a PM is designated with a half plus one majority.

Sadr has yet to comment on the would-be alliance that includes his former Sunni and Kurdish allies.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.