Iraq News Now

Qais Khazali, leader of Iraqi Shia political party and militant group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, also known as the Khazali Network, has alleged that the United Arab Emirates may try to rig Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections in order to bring reformist politicians to power who will work to normalize relations with Israel.“They can manipulate the results with ease, and it is in the UAE’s interest that individuals supporting normalization win. Therefore, we will disregard the electronic results if they do not match the [paper] results,” the politician warned.The politician’s comments come in the wake of assurances by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Tuesday that intensive security measures have been taken to prevent any interference in the country’s electoral process.US Troops’ Days in Iraq NumberedIn his interview with al-Mayadeen, Al-Khazali said he believes that the complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq is just a matter of time, but emphasized that the pullout won’t be accompanied by the type of chaos recently witnessed in Afghanistan, and that the Iraqi government will not fall as a result of the withdrawal. He warned that the country’s resistance forces are prepared to force US forces out of Iraq if necessary.The PMF was created in 2014 to battle Daesh (ISIS)* after wide swathes of western and northern Iraq fell to the terrorists. These forces fought alongside the Iraqi army and the US-led coalition, but simultaneously expressed hostility to the continued presence of American forces in the country, particularly after Daesh was defeated in 2017, and even more so after the unprovoked drone strike assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani alongside a senior PMF leader in Baghdad in January of 2020.The Khazali Network has been classified as a terrorist group by the US State Department, notwithstanding its role in the fight against Daesh, and the presence of 15 of the party’s lawmakers in the current parliament. In addition to its political activities, the group is estimated to have about 10,000 militiamen under its wing, making it one of the PMF’s strongest factions.Iraqis will go to the polls on Sunday for national elections. Despite calls for active participation by al-Khazali, Prime Minister al-Kadhimi and others, some of the country’s other powerful political forces, including Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Sadrist Movement and Iraq’s Communist Party, have announced a boycott, citing corruption and the potential for voter fraud. Louis Raphael I Sako, patriarch of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Church, has called on Iraqi Christians to boycott the vote, saying he did not expect them to be “transparent and fair.”* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.