Iraq: Ammar Hakim demands govt. action against sovereignty violation

Senior Iraqi religious scholar, Ammar al-Hakim has called on Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi to adopt effective measures aimed at defending the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the wake of strong indications that the United States and the Israeli regime were involved in recent attacks on positions of pro-government Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

“Repeated violations of the Iraqi sovereignty take place in the light of officials’ and the government’s silence to expose the perpetrators and the motives involved. We have had enough of condemnations. What our military facilities are subjected to is a serious violation of our national sovereignty. The government should assume its responsibilities for these violations, and defend the country,” the leader of the National Wisdom Movement said in a post published on his Twitter page on Thursday.

Meanwhile, PM Abdul-Mahdi, President Barham Salih and Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi have met in the capital Baghdad to discuss the latest attacks on the bases of the Popular Mobilization Units, better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi.

The trio stressed the need for the formation of a fact-finding mission to investigate explosions at the weapons depots of the volunteer forces.

They also called on the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the terrorist Takfiri Daesh group to honor its commitments as regards the protection of Iraqi airspace against any hostile aircraft.

On Wednesday, the second-in-command of the Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, held the United States fully responsible for recent attacks on the volunteer forces.

He said in a statement that the US, which has contributed to the emergence of terrorist groups in the Middle East, is now considering various ways to violate Iraq’s sovereignty and targeting the PMU.

SS