IRAQ’S NEW LEADERSHIP: HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS
Hassan Abbas,
May 12, 2020
The 53-year-old Mustafa al-Kadhimi has an interesting background. He began his career as a journalist known for his scathing criticism of President Saddam Hussein, forcing him to move to exile in Iran, Germany, and then the UK. He returned to Iraq after Saddam’s brutal regime collapsed. He is the author of many books, including Humanitarian Concerns, which in 2000 was selected by the EU as the best book written by a political refugee. He continued his advocacy work after returning to Iraq, but remained politically non-aligned and above sectarian politics. He was a surprise pick as head of the National Intelligence Council of Iraq in 2016 and made a name for himself for his efforts against ISIS and was recently in the spotlight for his role in the elimination of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS.
In the prevailing Iraqi political scenario, his strength lies in being seen as an acceptable figure for all sides, including regional players and the U.S. Given his good working relationship with the Western-led anti-ISIS campaign, he is deemed trustworthy in Western capitals. Iran is uncomfortable with this choice but he has open lines of communication with them as well. Insightfully, Iranian-supported Kataib Hezbollah, a militant outfit, issued a stern statement criticizing its allies in the Iraqi Parliament for their failure to stop the rise of Mustafa al-Kadhimi as the new Iraqi Prime Minister.
Al-Kadhimi is expected to instill discipline in the country’s security forces and he would not allow the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the militias that had emerged after Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Sistani’s anti-ISIS Fatwa, to follow a path independent of Iraq’s government policy. Even after officially being merged into Iraq’s defense forces, many elements of PMF are still pursuing their own agendas. Within a couple of days of assuming his office, the new prime minister promoted Lt. General Abdulwahhab al-Saidi and appointed him as Commander of Counterterrorism Forces. The previous government had moved him out of counterterrorism operations despite his achievements against ISIS probably wary of with his rising popularity and good rapport with the US security services operating in the region.
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