Screenshots from a circulated video show an Al-Maqal Municipality official being assaulted in Basra.
Sadr ‘freezes’ militia units after video shows assault on Basra official
BASRA — Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday ordered Saraya al-Salam forces in Basra and Kut to be frozen for six months, hours after a video circulated showing members assaulting a municipal official in central Basra.
Saleh al-Iraqi, known as the “Minister of the Leader,” wrote in a post addressed to Saraya al-Salam commander Tahseen al-Humaidawi: “Freeze the brigades and close the headquarters in Basra and Kut for six months, until a solution is considered for the violations and the repeated harm to the reputation of the fighters in Saraya al-Salam, even if it was by a third party.”
He added: “Their reputation is more important to me than their presence.”
Al-Iraqi continued: “My greetings to all the beloved brothers among the fighters who are disciplined and aware of the violations and the attempts at sedition and abuse by the corrupt and their strikes. With thanks and appreciation. Your brother, Muqtada al-Sadr.”
The decision followed an incident tied to the removal of an encroaching house in Al-Maqal, later found to belong to Qusay al-Asadi, a Sadrist cleric, Friday prayer imam and Saraya al-Salam official. The house stood in what residents describe as one of Basra’s most upscale neighborhoods.
In a voice message sent to Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani, Al-Maqal encroachments official Atheer al-Ubaidi asked for protection, saying relatives had surrounded his home for two days “to protect me from expected attacks” after he removed the vacant encroaching house.
Al-Ubaidi said he could not find a resolution and that when he went to file a complaint at a police station, “followers of the movement had already arrived before me.” He later lost his post after a decision to remove him.
Footage circulating online showed a Saraya al-Salam member summoning al-Ubaidi to the house site, accompanied by a group that included a person wearing what appeared to be a metal knuckle. The video shows the official being interrogated and beaten while the attacker filmed, saying it was “to be a lesson for him and for others.”
Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani said contacts were made with al-Sadr and that “Sayyid al-Sadr does not accept encroachment and the offender will be punished.” He later said he had spoken directly with al-Sadr following the assault.