Battle of settling scores in Iraq

Battle of settling scores in Iraq

3-6-2023

It seems that the silence of the former Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi , regarding his political targeting, as he is seen by his opponents, who now hold most of the reins of power in the government of Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani , did not last long and warns of political and judicial developments during the coming period.

After the judiciary issued arrest warrants on charges of facilitating the “ theft of the century ” in Iraq against the most prominent figures who were in Al-Kazemi’s government, who are his office director Raed Jouhi, Counselor Mashreq Abbas, Finance Minister Ali Allawi, and his personal secretary Ahmed Najati, Al-Kazemi issued a statement in which there were clear indications that the man He will not remain silent about his targeting, but perhaps we will be facing a new political struggle in which Al-Kazemi has many cards.

Al-Kadhimi, who ran the Iraqi intelligence service for more than five years and held the executive position in the country for more than two years, seems to have a full picture of what happened in terms of violence and corruption and who is behind it, which prompts political forces to move their influence to prevent him from political action or running for the upcoming parliamentary elections. .

political qualifiers

Al-Kazemi described the issuance of arrest warrants against a number of his aides during his presidency of the former Iraqi government as deliberate political targeting and liquidation, stressing that his government was the first to reveal the “theft of the century” and arrested suspects, and called in a statement for an investigation by the judiciary based on an international investigation into the case.

And the “theft of the century” in Iraq is a process of acquiring tax secretariats that were stolen with a legal trick by businessman Nour al-Khafaji and a number of his partners, which amounted to nearly 3.5 trillion Iraqi dinars ($2.5 billion) through instruments issued by the government’s Rafidain Bank and the Tax Department.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani announced the settlement of the “theft of the century” file through the principle of conditional release in exchange for money back, in a move that is considered the first in the history of the modern Iraqi state since the 1920s.

According to Al-Sudani, Baghdad has recovered the first payment of 182 billion Iraqi dinars ($123 million) out of a trillion and 681 billion dinars up to ($1.2 billion) seized by businessman Nour Al-Khafaji, indicating that this amount was delivered by Al-Khafaji according to a settlement agreement. It will include the release of the latter by the judiciary on bail to hand over the full amount within two weeks aimed at allowing him to sell the real estate he bought with this amount and return it to the state.

The Court of Integrity issued arrest warrants against four senior officials in the Al-Kazemi government for facilitating the seizure of tax secretariat amounts, and they are the Minister of Finance, Ali Abdul Amir Allawi, the director of Al-Kazemi’s office, Raed Juhi, his personal secretary, Ahmed Najati, and his advisor, Mashreq Abbas.

Al-Kazemi files

Issam Al-Faili, a professor of political science at Al-Mustansiriya University, believes that it is necessary to issue arrest warrants against many of those accused of theft in previous governments to remove the suspicion of political targeting, indicating that Al-Kazemi has files against many personalities in previous governments.

He said, “There is a high level of sensitivity on the part of many political forces. Whenever a file is opened, the second party feels that it is being targeted. The issue of stealing the century is a sensitive issue, and the first challenge faced by Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani is this issue,” noting that Al-Kazemi’s talk about targeting wanted To ask who the other parties are and why they are not mentioned.

According to Al-Faili, Representative Mustafa Sanad said in one of his television interviews that “when I reached a number of names, influential personalities asked him not to expose them, which indicates that there are names that were not mentioned.” It is likely that Al-Kazemi’s hypothesis will remain in people’s minds if no personalities appear A window in the Iraqi government before the judiciary to prove that justice applies to everyone.

Justice for all

Although the current issue has a judicial dimension, many of the previous judicial files have not been prosecuted, and therefore this issue will remain a matter of controversy and conflict between successive generations, according to Al-Faili, who stressed the need for an explicit and clear declaration of all names and corrupt personalities.

It is likely that Al-Kazemi is an uneasy personality and keeps files far from the corruption file, such as human rights files and the suppression of demonstrators, and these files are drawn to international sanctions, indicating that Al-Kazemi in his tweet did not mean Al-Sudani, but rather parties that worked to bring him down previously while trying to remove him from the political scene.

Continuing conflict

While the director of the Iraq Center for Strategic Studies, Ghazi Faisal, believes that the previous conflict between the coordination framework and Al-Kazemi and his government team is still continuing, indicating that the case is in the hands of the judiciary, and it is he who will investigate these charges.

He said, “The conflict today is clear and exposed. Since Al-Kazemi assumed the premiership until the transfer of power to Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, the former prime minister was subjected to a multi-level attack, and he was charged with serious accusations of espionage, the assassination of Soleimani, and collaboration with Israel, and other allegations that were raised against him to discredit him.”

He pointed out that Al-Kazemi was attacked by drones, which confirms the extent of the dangerous conflicts between the parties of the coordination framework in general and between Al-Kazemi and the staff that managed his government and the various institutions of Iraq during that period, indicating that that period ended with important achievements in terms of large gold reserves, in addition to 110 billion dollars. Hard currency reserves are in the Central Bank, and this does not mean that the Al-Kazemi government did not make mistakes.

Subjective charges

Faisal believes that the charges brought against Al-Kazemi, his staff, and the former President of the Republic, Barham Salih, are non-objective and unconstitutional, and they were supposed to be referred to the legal context, not deliberate attack and distortion.

He indicated that what is happening with Al-Kazemi and the referral of some personalities affiliated with him to the judiciary is left to the judiciary through investigation, which may prove that they are actually accused, or they will be acquitted.

He explained that those who revealed the “theft of the century” were the specialized agencies during the Al-Kazemi era, and that the prosecuted personalities, such as former Finance Minister Ali Allawi, revealed in his resignation dangerous information related to mafias and armed organizations, their breach of order and the appropriation of public money, pointing out that “the mafia is part of The ruling political class, whether in power or outside it, is present in centers of military and political influence.

rawabetcenter.com