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Iraq + 1 more

ISHM: April 13 - 19, 2018

Key Takeaways:

  • **Iraqi Foreign Minister, Protesters Condemn U.S. Airstrikes on Syrian Government Targets – **On April 14, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning U.S., French, and British airstrikes in Syria earlier that day. According to the statement, “such actions could have dangerous consequences, threatening the security and stability of the region and giving terrorism another opportunity to expand after it was ousted from Iraq and forced in to Syria…” Thousands of protesters in Basra, Dhi Qar, Wasit, Maysan, Najaf, Diyala, and Baghdad provinces demonstrated peacefully on April 14 and 15 in condemnation of the airstrikes on Syria. According to some reports, protestors in Baghdad were heard chanting anti-U.S. slogans. more…
  • **Candidates for Parliament Attacked in Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, Anbar – **On April 15, an IED was detonated in the city of Kirkuk, targeting Turkmen Front Parliamentary candidate Ammar al-Kahya. The attack killed one civilian and injured nine others, though Kahya was unharmed. Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Jan Kubis condemned the attack in a statement, and referenced several other recent incidents including a Turkmen candidate’s motorcade coming under fire on the Baghdad-Kirkuk road on April 13, another candidate from the al-Wataniya Coalition whose motorcade came under fire south of Baghdad, and an attack earlier this month on the al-Hal party offices in Hit (as previously reported in ISHM). On April 19, the Baghdad home of Jawad al-Saadi, a Parliament candidate with the Sairun Coalition, was attacked with an IED which resulted in material damage. more…
  • **Arab Summit Calls for Turkey to Respect Iraqi Sovereignty – **At the conclusion of the 29th Arab League Summit held April 14-15 in Saudi Arabia, representatives issued a resolution reaffirming the League’s support for Iraq on its efforts to eradicate terrorism and calling on Arab League member states to urge Turkey to withdraw any of its troops from Iraq and to respect Iraqi sovereignty. The Summit included representatives from Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen who also pledged support for returning displaced persons to their places of origin and for Palestine. more…
  • **World Bank Forecasts Positive GDP Growth in Iraq for 2018 – **The World Bank published the latest Middle East and North Africa Economic Monitor, which projects an increase in the regional growth rate from 2% in 2017 to 3.1% for 2018. In Iraq’s country report, the World Bank projects continued improvement for the Iraqi economy and a return to positive GDP growth for the year, citing a more favorable security environment and a gradual increase in reconstruction investment. On April 18, Iraqi Minister of Planning, Salman Jumaili, signed an agreement with the European Union for $18.6 million, which complements a World Bank investment of $51.4 million for the modernization of Iraqi financial management systems. more…
  • **Campaign Spending Criticized – **Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission has set campaign spending limits in Baghdad at $1 million per candidate and $144 million per party, and in Basra at $450 thousand per candidate and $16 million per party. Campaign spending in the lead-up to the May 12 elections has been criticized by some as “aristocratic” for a country that receives international financial assistance. more…
  • **HRW, NYT Report on Sham Trials of Suspected ISIS Sympathizers – **On April 17, _The New York Times_reported on the trials of suspected ISIS sympathizers who, in some instances, are afforded only a ten minute trial and unprepared legal counsel before being sentenced to death. According to Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher for Iraq, Belkis Wille, who has observed dozens of terrorism trials, the trials are usually biased from the beginning and are particularly prejudiced against foreign nationals. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has faced public pressure to ramp up the pace of prosecutions of suspected ISIS militants and their accomplices, despite the effect that doing so has on the rule of law. more…

For more background on most of the institutions, key actors, political parties, and locations mentioned in our takeaways or in the stories that follow, see the ISHM Reference Guide.