Iraq's PM Slams Former US President Donald Trump

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani during the memorial ceremony on the third anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis (INA)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani during the memorial ceremony on the third anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis (INA)
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Iraq's PM Slams Former US President Donald Trump

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani during the memorial ceremony on the third anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis (INA)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani during the memorial ceremony on the third anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis (INA)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani strongly attacked the administration of former US President Donald Trump for carrying out the strikes that killed Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Sudani said during a speech at a memorial ceremony on the third anniversary of the assassination that this action by the previous US administration was a "flagrant assault on Iraqi territory and sovereignty."

He condemned the assassination, saying it was against all international norms and laws and a dangerous act, warning that its repercussions could have threatened security and stability in the entire region.

"Targeting a leadership that had a role in repelling the terrorist attack on Iraq and the region is an action that does not express respect for bilateral agreements and friendship," the Iraqi premier said.

He recalled the heroism of the two and their achievements on battlefields and against the "most violent extremist terrorist group in our contemporary history," referring to ISIS.

"Our government is working to build a solid foundation for Iraqi sovereignty, an Iraq that is independent in its policies, building its relations based on common interests," he said.

The ceremony was attended by the head of the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq, Faiq Zaidan.

Zaidan described the killing of Soleimani and Muhandis as "a treacherous and cowardly crime that has no moral basis."

He asserted that the judiciary would hold those involved in the crime accountable, adding that the court would not hesitate to take legal action.

Zaidan recalled that the judiciary issued an arrest warrant against the former US president, who confessed to committing the crime.

In January 2021, Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council issued an arrest warrant for Trump for his part in the assassination of the two leaders.

The memorandum was based on the provisions of Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code in force related to premeditated murder, and its penalty is death.

The head of a committee set up by the Foreign Ministry to investigate the US assassination of Soleimani, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, announced last Wednesday that an Iraqi judicial delegation would visit Tehran this week to discuss the case.

Kadkhodaei said in press statements that Iraq has been cooperating with Iran since the beginning, and the two countries held bilateral meetings, adding that a delegation of Iraqi judicial officials is expected to visit Iran.

He stated that cooperation has been good between the two, and the Iraqi official helped collect evidence, expecting more actions with the new cabinet.

The official noted that Iraq has obligations and agreements with the US government.



Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
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Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File

The world's only research center on mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease common among farmers, has been destroyed in Sudan's two-year war, its director and another expert say.

Mycetoma is caused by bacteria or fungus and usually enters the body through cuts. It is a progressively destructive infectious disease of the body tissue, affecting skin, muscle and even bone.

It is often characterized by swollen feet, but can also cause barnacle-like growths and club-like hands, AFP said.

"The center and all its infrastructure were destroyed during the war in Sudan," Ahmed Fahal, director of the Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC), told AFP.

"We lost the entire contents of our biological banks, where there was data from more than 40 years," said Fahal, whose center had treated thousands of patients from Sudan and other countries.

"It's difficult to bear."

Since April 15, 2023, Sudan's army has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the northeast African country.

The MRC is located in the Khartoum area, which the army last month reclaimed from the RSF during a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million.

Sudan's health care system has been left at the "breaking point", according to the World Health Organization.

Among the conflict's casualties is now the MRC, established in 1991 under the auspices of the University of Khartoum. It was a rare story of medical success in impoverished Sudan.

A video provided by the global Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) shows collapsed ceilings, shelves overturned, fridges open and documents scattered about.

AFP was not able to independently verify the MRC's current condition.

The center had grown to include 50 researchers and treat 12,000 patients each year, Fahal said.

Mycetoma is listed as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO.

The organisms that cause mycetoma also occur in Sudan's neighbors, including Chad and Ethiopia, as well as in other tropical and sub-tropical areas, among them Mexico and Thailand, WHO says.

For herders, farmers and other workers depending on manual labor to survive, crippling mycetoma infections can be a life sentence.

Drawing on the MRC's expertise, in 2019 the WHO and Sudan's government convened the First International Training Workshop on Mycetoma, in Khartoum.

"Today, Sudan, which was at the forefront of awareness of mycetomas, has gone 100 percent backwards," said Dr. Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, DNDi's head of mycetoma.