ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Influential Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called on Kurds to participate in the Iraqi parliamentary election with “strength and determination.” “They have to participate with strength and determination, and the voice of the Kurds must triumph over the injustice and corruption same with the Shias and the Sunnis,” Sadr said in response to a question on his website about the participation of the Kurds and the Sunnis. Kurdish support for the fateful election next week…

A recent episode of the show featured a clip of one candidate vehemently attacking the Popular Mobilisation Forces or Hashed Al Shaabi – an umbrella group of mainly Shiite militias, many backed by Iran. But by the next clip the candidate had about-faced. “The Hashed became legal and constitutional, so of course we are with them,” he said. “Greaaaaaat,” cried out Albasheer, laughing uproariously at the contrasting clips. “When you have to change your skin to fit your interests, you’re going…

Only a decade after their country's first ever multi-party elections, disenchanted Iraqis say "the same old faces" with their vested interests have been running the show since the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein. "How long have Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Ayad Allawi, Nuri al-Maliki or Haider al-Abadi been in power? One minute as MPs, the next as ministers," said Midan al-Hamadani, listing Iraq's foreign minister, vice president, ex-prime minister and current premier. "The parties are always the same and the same people…

Dr Intidhar Ahmed Jassim withdrew from the race after the video - which she says is a fake - was released online. Other women candidates have also reportedly faced online harassment. The UN statement said the targeting of women not only "brings anguish" to the candidates, but "is a threat to the integrity of the electoral process". In Iraq, one quarter of the seats in parliament must be occupied by women. But women running for office in the May polls are…

A new report adds to warnings that Iraq's government is creating a pariah class out of some of most vulnerable people in the country's society BAGHDAD — In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared “complete” victory over ISIL militants after Iraqi forces backed by American advisers and air power clawed back major cities occupied by the extremists for years. Abadi’s proclamation ushered in a period of euphoria over the end of major combat, with many Iraqis embracing a message…

Women and children believed to have links to the “Islamic State” (IS) militant group suffer “harrowing” sexual exploitation and discrimination in Iraq’s refugee camps, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. More than 2 million were displaced from their homes after “IS” militants swept through Iraq in 2014. What did Amnesty find? Women were being coerced and pressured into entering sexual relationships in exchange for cash, humanitarian aid and protection from other men. The women also faced the risk of rape, with…

Iraq will not solve the crises it faces unless it maintains an inclusive political process, overcomes sectarian divisions and rids itself of foreign interference, the Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi told The National during a visit to Dubai. On the 12th of May Iraqis will cast their votes in the first parliamentary elections since the country's victory over ISIL. However, the state is still being hindered by issues that are debilitating its democratic process and political independence. Mr Allawi explained that foreign intrusions in Iraq are…

Iraq’s Vice President Ayad Allawi launched an electoral campaign focusing on countering corruption, dubbing it “the call of the homeland.”“Some of those who assumed responsibility after 2003 did not carry the project of building a state,” Allawi said in a televised speech on Sunday evening.Allawi, one of the three Vice-Presidents of the Republic, added that “some took advantage of their influence and international relations to overrun real voices of the people expressed in the 2010 elections.”He pointed out that “abhorrent…

Iraq’s crude oil reserves may turn out to be much higher than believed, the country’s oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi said at a recent industry event, timing the statement with news that it will pay foreign companies less in new contracts. Last year, Iraq updated the estimate for its proven reserves to 153 billion barrels from 143 billion barrels, but if Luaibi is right, the figure could actually be double the 2017 estimate. If the higher estimate proves true, it would make Iraq…

Iraq has sentenced 3,130 prisoners to death for alleged links to ISIS and other militant organizations since 2013, as the nation’s criminal justice system struggles to deal with thousands of prisoners from its four-year fight against extremist groups. Iraq has detained or imprisoned at least 19,000 people accused of terror-related offenses, according to an Associated Press analysis of a 27,849-person spreadsheet of all those imprisoned in Iraq as of late January. The spreadsheet was provided by an Iraqi official on the condition…