Iraq Shiite cleric meets Saudi Crown Prince amid political crisis
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim on Thursday met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, discussing the political crisis in Iraq and stressing the need to keep the country away from foreign interference during this period.
Hakim, head of the National Wisdom Movement political bloc, arrived in Jeddah on Thursday and was received by the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji. He held a meeting with Bin Salman shortly after, discussing the latest developments in Iraq’s political scene as well bilateral relations between Baghdad and Riyadh.
“We affirmed that dialogue between the different parties is the best way to reach satisfactory solutions to the political deadlock in Iraq, and we stressed that the solutions must remain Iraqi without any external pressure,” read a statement from Hakim’s office regarding the meeting.
Iraq is in the midst of a deepening political impasse, with calls from influential Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr for new snap elections and the dissolution of the current parliament, due to the current legislature’s failure to form Iraq’s next government 10 months after the elections of October 2021.
Sadrist supporters have held sit-in demonstrations in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, protesting the delay in government formation and asking for the implementation of their leader’s calls. Counter-protests have also been held by supporters of Sadr’s main rivals, the pro-Iran Shiite parliamentary faction known as the Coordination Framework, of which Hakim is a key figure.
Hakim’s visit to Saudi drew a reaction from Salih Muhammad al-Iraqi, a prominent figure of the Sadrist Movement, who criticized the timing of the visit as it came right after a meeting by political parties with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
“If we had done that, they would have said: The dialogue session was conducted under external pressure and signaling from the normalizers [of relations with Israel], and the Americans, and the like,” said Iraqi in a statement.
The visit sparked speculation that its purpose was to convince Saudi Arabia to mediate between the Iraqi parties to end the current political crisis, but this was refuted by Fahad al-Juboori, member of the Wisdom Movement, who told Rudaw’s Mushtaq Ramadhan on Thursday that “the Coordination Framework rejects any external mediation.”
Leaders of Iraqi and Kurdish political parties on Wednesday attended a “national dialogue” conference organized by Kadhimi, in which the participants called for the continuation of talks, stopping all forms of escalation, and calling on the Sadrist Movement, who boycotted the session, to partake in the national dialogue.
Hakim, head of the National Wisdom Movement political bloc, arrived in Jeddah on Thursday and was received by the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji. He held a meeting with Bin Salman shortly after, discussing the latest developments in Iraq’s political scene as well bilateral relations between Baghdad and Riyadh.
“We affirmed that dialogue between the different parties is the best way to reach satisfactory solutions to the political deadlock in Iraq, and we stressed that the solutions must remain Iraqi without any external pressure,” read a statement from Hakim’s office regarding the meeting.
Iraq is in the midst of a deepening political impasse, with calls from influential Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr for new snap elections and the dissolution of the current parliament, due to the current legislature’s failure to form Iraq’s next government 10 months after the elections of October 2021.
Sadrist supporters have held sit-in demonstrations in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, protesting the delay in government formation and asking for the implementation of their leader’s calls. Counter-protests have also been held by supporters of Sadr’s main rivals, the pro-Iran Shiite parliamentary faction known as the Coordination Framework, of which Hakim is a key figure.
Hakim’s visit to Saudi drew a reaction from Salih Muhammad al-Iraqi, a prominent figure of the Sadrist Movement, who criticized the timing of the visit as it came right after a meeting by political parties with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
“If we had done that, they would have said: The dialogue session was conducted under external pressure and signaling from the normalizers [of relations with Israel], and the Americans, and the like,” said Iraqi in a statement.
The visit sparked speculation that its purpose was to convince Saudi Arabia to mediate between the Iraqi parties to end the current political crisis, but this was refuted by Fahad al-Juboori, member of the Wisdom Movement, who told Rudaw’s Mushtaq Ramadhan on Thursday that “the Coordination Framework rejects any external mediation.”
Leaders of Iraqi and Kurdish political parties on Wednesday attended a “national dialogue” conference organized by Kadhimi, in which the participants called for the continuation of talks, stopping all forms of escalation, and calling on the Sadrist Movement, who boycotted the session, to partake in the national dialogue.