Iraqi MP says Saudis have freed nine detained citizens

BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmaker Raed al-Maliki said Sunday that a group of Iraqis held in Saudi Arabia since October 2024 have been released and will return home soon.

In a statement on his Facebook page, al-Maliki wrote, “It has been confirmed that these young men have been released,” adding that “they will return to Iraq in the near future.”

He had previously disclosed that nine Iraqis were detained in Saudi Arabia without formal charges, describing their cases as administrative or legal rather than political or criminal. Al-Maliki said Iraq’s embassy in Riyadh had maintained contact with Saudi authorities to help secure their release. “We hope to strengthen cooperation between the two countries to protect the rights of Iraqi citizens abroad,” he said.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met families of the detainees on Aug. 23, stressing the government’s responsibility to safeguard Iraqis overseas. “The government, from its responsibility toward Iraqi citizens everywhere, is responsible for their security, interests, and protection from emergencies,” his office said at the time.

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein also pledged personal follow-up during a Sept. 7 meeting with relatives of the detainees. The ministry said Saudi officials had shown readiness “to make every effort to secure the release of the detainees and their return to the homeland.”

Al-Maliki, a member of parliament’s legal committee, has argued that the young men were not accused of political or criminal acts. In earlier televised remarks, he said some were arrested for possessing photos of Shiite figures such as Muqtada al-Sadr or Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, or for taking pictures at the al-Baqi cemetery during religious visits. He described the arrests as “arbitrary measures,” saying the detainees could have been warned or deported rather than kept in custody for nearly a year.