KRG ministry dismisses cleric from teaching position over misconduct findings

SULAYMANIYAH — The Kurdistan Regional Government’s higher education minister has permanently dismissed Salafi cleric Abdullatif Ahmad Mustafa from his teaching post at the University of Sulaimani, endorsing a university investigation into sexual misconduct allegations that he denies.

Minister Aram Mohammed Qadir approved the dismissal in an order dated July 1, after reviewing the university’s correspondence and the investigative committee’s final findings. The order removes Abdullatif from his position as a lecturer at the College of Islamic Sciences and, under the disciplinary law cited, permanently bars him from future government employment.

The committee, formed by a university decree on June 18, carried out its work in the presence of a representative of the public prosecutor, the order said. The dismissal was imposed under Iraq’s 1991 discipline law for state employees.

The action follows a university investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Abdullatif. The university announced on June 25 that its committee had finished its work and sent its findings to the ministry without disclosing them. A university source told 964media at the time that the committee had recommended his permanent dismissal, a bar from higher-education employment and the denial of retirement benefits, and that six to seven students from the college had filed complaints and given testimony.

The allegations surfaced earlier in June after a UK-based Kurdish activist published audio recordings he said documented inappropriate sexual interactions between Abdullatif and female students. The recordings spread widely on Kurdish social media, and students at the college later alleged he had sent them explicit images and messages.

Abdullatif has repeatedly denied the allegations. After the recordings were released, he said the voice in them had been generated by artificial intelligence, and in a June 21 statement called the accusations “false, fabricated, and have no basis in truth.” He accused ideological opponents and extremist groups of orchestrating a smear campaign and said he would take legal action.

Abdullatif is one of the Kurdistan Region’s best-known Salafi clerics, with a following built over decades of preaching and religious education. He is widely regarded as a leading figure of the quietist, or madkhali, Salafi movement in the Kurdistan Region, a branch that advocates obedience to rulers and rejects political activism and armed rebellion.