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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Stephen Hickey, Britain’s ambassador to Iraq, says the UK is broadly optimistic about Iraq’s future if Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi can assemble a functioning government in Baghdad.
Speaking to Rudaw’s Shaho Amin on Monday, Hickey said Iraq’s new PM faces significant obstacles, including coronavirus, the collapse of world oil prices, and complex security threats.
“I am pleased that Iraqi politicians have come together and decided to nominate Mustafa al-Kadhimi,” Hickey said via video link.
“I think Iraq is urgently in need of a permanent government – not a caretaker government – in order to address the many pressing challenges, whether it is coronavirus, the economic crisis, and all the security challenges of militias attacking coalition forces,” he said.
Iraq has not had a fully-functioning government since December, when mass protests forced then-Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to resign after just a year in office.
Since then, Shiite political parties have wrangled over who should replace him and form the next Iraqi cabinet.
For the first time since December 2019, Iraq’s Shiite parties have settled on a candidate – former intelligence chief Kadhimi.
“I think it is really important that it is Iraqi politicians themselves that have chosen Mr. Kadhimi,” said Hickey.
“I think it is really to his credit as a candidate that he has managed to attract such strong support among the Shiite parties but also from Kurdish parties and Sunni parties, and also from civil society,” he said.
Britain and the United States led the coalition that deposed Saddam Hussein in 2003. Since then, both countries have continued to play a major role in Iraq’s economic affairs.
However, Baghdad has also fostered close ties with Washington’s arch nemesis, Iran, which wields significant influence over Iraq’s political and military life.
Hickey says the UK wants to see a “strong Iraqi state” which is not beholden to any outside influences.
“I don’t want to see an Iraq where third countries – even if it is the UK, or Iran, or anyone else – interfering and dominating Iraqi politics,” the British ambassador said.
“I think it is so important that the Iraqi politicians themselves have made that decision.”
Kadhimi spent several years in exile in the UK during the Saddam era. Hickey says Britain knows Kadhimi “very well” and is impressed by his “vision”.
The British ambassador is nevertheless troubled by recent violence in Iraq.
Following months of heightened tensions between the US and Iran, rocket attacks on US infrastructure and personnel in Iraq have become increasingly frequent.
Brodie Gillon, a 26-year-old British soldier serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in a rocket attack on Taji military base, north of Baghdad on March 11. Two American personnel were also killed.
“The first duty of any government is to provide security for its own citizens, and Iraq is facing a number of security threats currently, and I have no doubt tackling these security threats is Kadhimi’s top priority,” Hickey said.
Protests rocked southern and central cities in late-2019 as young Iraqis demanded jobs, public services, and action against corruption.
The British ambassador urged the new prime minister-designate to focus on “prosperity, jobs, and security for all Iraqis.”
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