Arrest warrant issued for Abu Diraa after alleged threats against state employee

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Central Investigative Court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Ismail Hafez Abdul Ali al-Lami, known as Abu Diraa, on charges of threatening citizens, employees and security guards at a government building in an attempt to influence a tender award.

The charges, filed by the Baghdad Mayoralty, stem from allegations that Abu Diraa “stormed the Real Estate Department building, threatened citizens, employees and security guards, in order to force them to award one of the tenders in his favor.” The warrant was issued under Article 430 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which pertains to threats.

The case followed the circulation of a video that appears to show individuals believed to be associated with Abu Diraa inside a government building, where they allegedly directed threats and offensive remarks at an employee who refused to process a transaction.

The Rusafa Intelligence Directorate said its forces raided a site linked to Abu Diraa in Sadr City’s Sector 74 following the warrant, seizing medium and heavy weapons and arresting two members of his protection detail. A warrant was also issued against his father.

Abu Diraa, born in 1970, is a former Iraqi army noncommissioned officer who became a prominent figure during the sectarian conflict that followed the 2003 invasion. He has been linked to the Mahdi Army and accused of involvement in killings and forced displacement during the 2006–2008 period of violence. He was detained in 2008 during a security operation in Basra and left for Iran in 2010 following his release, before reappearing intermittently in Baghdad in subsequent years, often accompanied by armed guards.