Freed PMF official accuses US envoy of orchestrating his detention

BAGHDAD — The Popular Mobilization Forces intelligence director for Baghdad Belt Operations accused U.S. envoy Tom Barrack of engineering his arrest and said he would sue Iraq’s National Intelligence Service, after the judiciary cleared him of all charges.

“The criminal terrorist Tom Barrack, the representative of the Great Satan America, the enemy of God and the enemy of peace, is the one who planned all these crises with the aim of controlling the sovereign decision, creating crises and dragging us into internal fighting,” Abbas al-Yaqoubi said, adding that Iraqi officials and faction leaders had thwarted those plans.

He said the legal adviser at Baghdad Belt Operations Command would sue the National Intelligence Service “over the malicious accusations against me, and we all have faith in the judiciary.” He thanked Harakat al-Nujaba leader Akram al-Kaabi, PMF commanders, faction leaders, tribal figures, the judiciary, media outlets and political officials for supporting him.

Yaqoubi was detained by Counter-Terrorism Service forces overnight Monday into Tuesday in Dhi Qar, transferred to PMF custody and cleared on Wednesday. Nujaba, which identifies him as one of its intelligence officials, said the arrest should have been handled through the PMF, accused the government of escalating against armed factions and denied reports linking him to corruption or to threats against Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zaidan. Reports had also alleged he was suspected of involvement in moving missiles and drones from Iran through Iraq to other countries, which Nujaba rejected.

Barrack is President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Iraq and Syria and U.S. ambassador to Turkey. He met Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in June in talks that covered the government’s drive to bring weapons under state control, with Zaidi’s office saying they discussed the complete disarmament of groups outside state authority. Government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said afterward that the weapons issue remained an Iraqi file.