“After receiving treatment for his poisoning, Mala Bakhtiar will return to Sulaimani from Germany on Saturday,” reads a statement from the politician on Twitter, adding that he has “recovered from the cowardly poisoning scheme.”
“I will never give up my rights,” Bakhtiar said in a separate tweet. “The crime was committed against me only because I was not a criminal, corrupt, pro-conglomerate, or a slave to positions and money.”
The first reporting of alleged poisoning of the member of the PUK’s Higher Political Council dates back to last month.
Bakhtiar has claimed that al-Khalidi Hospital and Medical Center in Jordan and Vivantes Hospital Group in Germany have confirmed that he has been poisoned with mercury.
Bakhtiar has not publically named anyone he believes to be behind the poisoning but has said “comrades” were behind the incident, a reference to members of his party. Some have pointed fingers at Lahur Talabany who was recently expelled from the PUK as its co-chair.
Bafel Talabani, co-chair and de facto president of the party, unofficially removed his cousin from the PUK co-chairship in July. He later accused Lahur Talabany of poisoning him.
In a video message last week, Lahur Talabany said the party must “avoid these accusations” and called on the Leadership Council to convene in the near future in order to resolve the rift between him and his cousin, saying “if there is an issue within the party, then that must be resolved through the party’s official organs.”
