JEDDAH: Saudi Ambassador to Iraq Thamer Al-Sabhan has said that the Iraqi government has not yet acted against the threats to his life by Shiite militant groups.
The envoy posted the comment on his Twitter account after threats against him were issued by a Shiite leader close to the government.
Ethel Najafi, leader at the Iraqi National Army in Mosul, said that the ongoing hate rhetoric by the Popular Mobilization Militias (Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi) against the Saudi ambassador is an act of terror.
After the failed assassination attempt against the Saudi ambassador, Aws Al-Khafaji, a leader of Shiite faction Abu Al-Fadl Al-Abbas militia, said in TV remarks that Al-Sabhan’s hostility toward Iraq is clear and that the militia does not want him to stay in Iraq.
“We don’t want Al-Sabhan in Iraq, we hold a vendetta against him. If he is assassinated, it will be an honor for everyone,” another Shiite militia leader said.
Najafi said that such a threat against an ambassador who works legally in Iraq and is recognized by the Iraqi government is unacceptable.
He urged the Iraqi government to take act against the instigators and provide protection to the ambassador, who cooperates with all Iraqi factions alike.
An Iraqi political source said that Aws Al-Khafaji has received orders to attack Al-Sabhan from Ali Akbar Mohammadi, leader of the Iraqi popular mobilization at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad.
Al-Khafaji is the person who runs the popular mobilization militias and plans, controls and issues orders. He works with Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, an Iraqi source said. “The main tasks of these militias are to carry out and comply with orders coming from Akbar Mohammadi.”
Al-Khafaji’s faction is the weakest Shiite group, especially after it lost a large number of its members in Sayyidah Zaynab, in the southern suburbs of Damascus.
Baghdad not doing enough to protect Saudi envoy
Baghdad not doing enough to protect Saudi envoy
