Baghdad, 25 March 2021 (AFP) – In a new show of strength by the Iranians against Prime Minister Mustafa Al Qazimi on Thursday, dozens of pickup trucks loaded with hooded and armed men circled Baghdad, who just restored “dialogue” Proposed “with Washington.
In khaki-colored vehicles, wearing balaclaves with the inscription “Raba Allah”, “Gang of God” in the Iraqi dialect, these people displayed Kazimi’s portraits – believed to be more pro-American than their predecessors – And the other officers who were with the mark trampled on, as an insult.
Raba Allah is the youngest and most powerful of Iraq’s pro-Iranian groups. It is, according to experts, a liberation from the Hezbollah Brigade, a pre-existing faction integrated into the state itself.
These displays of power – which are not uncommon in Iraq, as organized by Shiite leader Mukhtar Sadar in early February – take place in a very tense political-economic context.
On Tuesday, an Iraqi government official announced that Baghdad had officially requested a new “strategic dialogue” with the Joe Biden government, as it did during Donald Trump.
Iraq and the US, in particular, should return to discuss the issue of the 2,500 US troops present in Iraq, whose parliament voted for expulsion for more than a year.
No date has yet been set in this regard, and it is highly likely that the interaction will be virtual due to the Kovid-19 epidemic.
On Thursday, a member of Raba Allah read a statement that said: “We sent a threatening message (…) to the US occupier and ally (Iraqi) government with our rifles.”
ak-sbh / hj / age / eg / mr
