Iraq

Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi warned Saturday that the political crisis in the country is threatening security achievements made in past years.

Supporters of religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr launched a new sit-in in front of the Supreme Judicial Council, calling for the body to dissolve parliament.

Ten months after populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr won the largest number of seats in the legislature, politicians from the country’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs continue to fight bitterly over the shape of a new government. Now Sadr has withdrawn from the process as his followers camp out in the grand legislature building.

For the second time in a week, on Saturday protesters stormed the parliament in Baghdad, breaching the high-security Green Zone and injuring more than 120 people, news media reported.

Hundreds of Iraqi demonstrators, most of them followers of the Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, have stormed the parliament building in Baghdad to protest against the nomination for prime minister by Iran-backed parties.

Iraq has filed a complaint to the U.N. Security Council, requesting an urgent session to discuss a deadly artillery attack this week that Baghdad blames on Turkey, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

The Council today appointed Anders Wiberg as new head of mission for the European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq (EUAM Iraq). He will take up his duties on 16 August 2022 until 30 April 2024. Anders Wiberg is a Chief Superintendent of the Swedish National Police, a service he joined in 1991. He has also served in different international positions within the EU: he was Head of Operations of EUAM Iraq, and Chief of Staff in the Special Police Department of EULEX Kosovo.

The 73 lawmakers from powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc submitted their resignation based on his request, to protest a persisting political deadlock eight months after general elections were held. 

Since last October's elections, Iraq has been without a government because politicians can't manage to form a coalition. That's not uncommon in democracies. But is it positive for Iraq, or will it become dangerous?

The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) today for another year, until 31 May 2023, retaining its core tasks.