Iraqi Parliamentarian calls for accountability after US airstrike

BAGHDAD, January 4 — The Huquq Bloc, Close to Kataib Hezbullah, posed three questions to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Thursday following the strike that targeted the headquarters of the 12th Brigade in the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Additionally, they called for the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador from Iraq.

A statement by the head of the bloc, Representative Saud Al-Saadi:

Due to the repeated targeting of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the head of the Rights Bloc calls on the Prime Minister and the President to hold the U.S. ambassador accountable and expel her from Iraq.

The head of the Rights Bloc, Saud al-Saadi, demanded on Thursday that the Prime Minister and the President hold the U.S. ambassador accountable and expel her from Iraq in response to the repeated American aggression against the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

According to the document, al-Saadi requested the Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to answer the following parliamentary questions:

1.. What measures will the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces take against the U.S. forces that persistently violate Iraqi sovereignty, with the latest incident being the targeting of a PMF leader in Baghdad on January 4, 2023?
2.. Why has your government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not summoned the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad and presented an official written protest memorandum regarding the repeated airstrikes on PMF and the blatant violation of national sovereignty?
3.. What are the reasons for the Iraqi government’s silence in implementing the Iraqi Parliament’s decision (Resolution No. 18 of 2020) to expel foreign forces from Iraq despite the continuous violations of national sovereignty?

Additionally, the President was addressed regarding the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad due to the ongoing airstrikes on PMF and its leadership.

In another document, Saud al-Saadi requested the President to “approve the issuance of the presidential decree to revoke the credentials of the U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad, in accordance with the constitutional powers granted to you, pursuant to the provisions of Article (73/Sixth) of the Constitution. This request is due to the repeated American airstrikes on the headquarters of PMF in Iraq, which constitutes a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty, considering PMF an integral part of the Iraqi Armed Forces in accordance with the provisions of Article (1) of the Popular Mobilization Forces Law No. (40) of 2016.”