Kurds issue arrest warrants for 11 Iraqis as tensions brew

Kurds issue arrest warrants for 11 Iraqis as tensions brew
Eleven Iraqis including leaders in a powerful paramilitary group were issued with an arrest warrant by Kurdish authorities on Monday, in an apparent tit-for-tat move amid rising tensions.
3 min read
23 October, 2017
Tensions have been brewing between Erbil and Baghdad since the referendum [Getty]
Iraqi Kurdish authorities issued arrest warrants for 11 Iraqis including leaders in a powerful paramilitary group on Monday, in an apparent tit-for-tat move after Baghdad took similar measures.

The prosecution in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan said in a statement it had issued the warrants for 11 people and asked a court in regional capital Erbil to take legal steps to pursue the matter.

Among those targeted is Qais al-Khazali, founder and leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iran-backed Shia militia that is one of the main components of the Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary group.

The powerful Hashd, also called Popular Mobilisation Forces, has been a key player in the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq alongside federal forces, and last week, they also took part in an operation by government forces that retook Kurdish-held areas outside the autonomous region in northern Iraq.

Also facing an arrest warrant issued by the Kurds are Rayan al-Kaldani, the head of a Christian militia that fights in the ranks of the Hashd, and lawmaker Hanan al-Fatlawi.

It was not immediately clear why they were wanted.

The moves come amid brewing tensions between Baghdad and the Kurds, who last month held an independence vote in defiance of the federal government.

Tensions have been high between the two camps since the referendum, which Iraq's Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional.

Since then, Baghdad courts have issued several arrest warrants for Kurdish leaders on several charges.

On Sunday, an Iraqi anti-corruption task force said it had issued a warrant for the arrest of Babaker Zebari, a Kurd and former Iraqi army chief of staff, over misappropriation of public funds.

A statement from the anti-corruption body said Zebari is accused of gifting "civilians seven vehicles that belonged to the defence ministry".

Meanwhile on Thursday, a warrant was issued for the vice president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Kosrat Rasul, on charges of "provocation" against Iraq's armed forces.

Earlier this month, another court ordered the arrest of the three senior Kurdish officials responsible for organising the independence referendum.

Increasing death toll

The latest arrest warrants came after Iraqi federal and paramilitary forces on Sunday said they lost five men in last week's clashes with Kurdish fighters, bringing the death toll for all sides to 31.

On Friday, Iraq's central government said its forces had taken back control from the Kurds of all disputed territory in the north of the country located outside the Kurdish autonomous region.

A statement by Iraq's Joint Operations Command said two federal forces were killed in Altun Kupri region of Kirkuk province, which was taken on Friday.

A spokesman for the Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary force told AFP the militia lost three of its fighters in the clashes with the Kurds.

Peshmerga commander Wasta Rassoul had on Friday said 26 Kurdish fighters were killed and 67 others wounded in last week's clashes.