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Iraqis rally for slain activist as Baghdad summons Western envoys
[Al Jazeera] Iraqis have gathered to mourn a prominent activist rubbed out in the latest violent episode in anti-government demonstrations in which more than 450 people have died. Hundreds joined Fahem al-Tai's funeral procession on Monday, hours after the 53-year-old was killed in a drive-by shooting in Iraq's shrine city of Karbala while returning home from protests late on Sunday. "We will not forget our deaders," read one sign carried by a tearful protester. The rally came as Iraq's foreign ministry summoned four Western envoys over their condemnation of a deadly attack against protesters at the weekend. Iraq's capital, Baghdad, and its Shia-majority south have been gripped by more than two months of rallies against corruption, poor public services and unemployment. Demonstrators also want a complete overhaul of the political system installed after the 2003 US invasion of the country, where power is apportioned among religious and ethnic groups. Activists have called for large-scale marches from other cities towards Baghdad but paramilitary leaders have warned such protests would be "ruinous". "It will bring the most massive chaos yet to Baghdad," said Qais al-Khazali, the head of the prominent Asaib Ahl al-Haq armed faction, who was blacklisted last week by the United States. Asaib Ahl al-Haq is one of the most powerful groups in Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi security force (also known as the PMF), a network of Iran-backed gangs officially integrated into the Iraqi state security forces. Hashd chief Faleh al-Fayyadh over the weekend ordered the factions to stay away from rallies. The British, French and German ambassadors to Iraq condemned the violence in a meeting with caretaker prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who resigned on December 1. "No gang should be able to operate outside of the control of the state," the envoys said in a statement, urging the government to "urgently investigate". The envoys also pressed the government to implement its recent order that the Hashd "stay away from protest locations". In response, Iraq's foreign ministry on Monday summoned all three ambassadors, as well as their Canadian counterpart, who had similarly condemned the violence. The ministry said their comments were an "unacceptable intervention in Iraq's internal affairs". A diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that the envoys were "not surprised" at having been summoned, particularly after Abdul Mahdi had defended his government in response to their criticism at the earlier meeting. Related: Karbala: 2019-12-05 Hezbollah helping Iran's Soleimani find new Iraqi PM - report Karbala: 2019-12-04 Talks in Iraq capital as violence hits shrine cities Karbala: 2019-12-02 Iraqi protesters set fire to Iranian consulate in Najaf. Again. Posted by: Fred 2019-12-10 |
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