person:haider al-abadi

A New Era Beckons for Iraqi-Saudi Relations

▻https://warontherocks.com/2018/02/a-new-era-beckons-for-iraqi-saudi-relations

Iraq is witnessing a rare moment of confidence. The defeat of the Islamic State in the country, along with the Iraqi government’s proactive measures to prevent conflict from erupting over territorial claims by separatist Kurds, has helped Iraq start to pull itself out of the abyss. An important but frequently overlooked subplot of this story is that Iraqi-Saudi ties are warmer than they have been in three decades — the partial result of a U.S. policy gambit.

The recent thaw in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraq marks a key policy change. The United States and Saudi Arabia see the need for a strong Iraq to counter Iran’s expansionism and to bring a semblance of stability to a conflict-prone region. America’s policy towards Iraq now relies heavily on forging a strong Saudi-Iraqi partnership, which relieves the U.S. government from having to fund Iraq’s rebuilding. America’s new approach envisages closer security and economic cooperation between Iraq and its Gulf neighbors, working together to reverse the destructive sectarianism of the past few years. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has capitalized on this change, turning it into an opportunity to seek regional support to address his country’s urgent reconstruction needs.

For war-ravaged Iraq, Saudi Arabia’s engagement bodes well. Iraqi leaders believe the relationship could lead to much-needed aid to rebuild its war-devastated provinces and stabilize Sunni-dominated areas of the country. Saudi Arabia, for its part, may share some of these goals, but its long-term vision is to fundamentally shift Iraqi politics away from being dominated by Iran. If rapprochement focuses on long-term partnership rather than merely diplomatic tête-à-tête, a new Saudi-Iraq relationship could fundamentally transform the region. Revitalized relations could strengthen the prosperity of both countries and help bring Iraq closer to its Arab kith with a view toward building a new security and economic environment in Iraq and the Northern Gulf. Any real change of the type envisaged by this new relationship will have to benefit ordinary Iraqis, something that could be realized by supporting Iraq’s rebuilding efforts and civil society sector.

Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is good news for Israel and U.S.

Saudi crown prince Bin Salman agrees with U.S. on Russia, Assad, Iran and ISIS and according to some reports, he’s also met with top Israeli officials

Zvi Bar’el Jun 21, 2017
read more: ►http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-1.797007

New Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s appointment as Saudi Arabia’s heir apparent was only a matter of time. The “boy,” who will mark his 32nd birthday in August, has been leading the country de facto anyway. He already calls the shots on foreign policy. Many expect that in the not-too-distant future, King Salman, who is ill, will step down and hand the scepter to his son.
Bin Salman has been undergoing training for the throne since Salman’s coronation two and a half years ago, both through foreign missions carried out on behalf of his father, and also through the war in Yemen that – as defense minister – he planned and carried out (albeit not particularly successfully).
>>Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro: The impulsiveness of the king-in-waiting should worry Israel and the U.S.
Before the new crown prince’s advent, his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, had been in charge of relationships with Washington, especially with the CIA. In short order, Nayef was pushed out and the Americans understood exactly who the strong man in town was.
Bin Salman became the contact not only between the kingdom and Washington, but also with Russia: the new heir met with President Vladimir Putin several times to coordinate policy on Syria and Iran.
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Until now, Mohammed bin Salman has been good news for Israel and the United States, as his firm anti-Iranian positions make him an important partner – and not only in the struggle against Iran. Bin Salman agrees with America on the need to thwart Russian influence in the region; to topple President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria; and to act firmly against ISIS and other radical organizations, from the Muslim Brotherhood to Hezbollah. During the last two years, several Arab websites have reported that bin Salman also met with top Israelis.

File photo: US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the White House on March 14, 2017.NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP
>> Cluster bombs and yachts: 5 things you should know about Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince
According to these reports, one such meeting took place in Eilat in 2015; another on the margins of the Arab summit in Jordan this March, and there are regular meetings between Saudi and Israeli officers in the joint war room where Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United States coordinate. What is not yet known is to what extent Bin Salman can and might want to advance the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan, and whether he can turn around relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
In a series of tweets this week, the Saudi blogger known as “Mujtahidd” revealed a “plot” by Crown Prince bin Salman and the heir to the Abu Dhabi throne, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to stage a coup in Qatar.
Mujtahidd – many of whose tweets have proven accurate, and who apparently relies on whispers from the Saudi Arabia monarchial court – wrote, among other things, that the two heirs intended to send Blackwater mercenaries (of Iraqi notoriety) to Qatar, together with forces from the UAE, to seize the government. After that, somebody from the ruling Al-Thani family who would be loyal to them would be appointed. Thusly, according to Mujtahidd, the two thought to reduce the crisis and bend Qatar to Saudi Arabia’s will. Based on these tweets, it was the United States that pressed, indirectly, to torpedo the notion.
By the way, this information has not been verified, and there is no certainty that these tweets rely on any actual fact. But what is unquestionable is the depth of relations between the two young heirs, a relationship that has created an axis of youth confident of the global mission – or at least Arab mission – placed on their shoulders, and confident that none but them are suited to run the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R) talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, June 19, 2017. HANDOUT/REUTERS
This is a new generation that includes the ruler of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, 37. It is a generation that came late to the Gulf states, having been predated by youthful leaders in Morocco, Jordan and Syria.
Arab leaders like Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and King Abdullah have felt the whip of Saudi foreign relations. Both have been lashed over their “behavior” – and they were punished, too. Saudi Arabia cut off the oil supply to Egypt six months ago because of Cairo’s support for the Russian proposal on Syria, and because what Saudi Arabia felt was Egypt’s retreat from the proposal to return the Sanafir and Tiran islands in the Red Sea to it. Saudi Arabia also suspended aid to Jordan until recently because Jordan refused to let Gulf forces operate from its territory against Syrian forces.

Mohammed bin Salman, newly appointed as crown prince, left, kisses the hand of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, June 21, 2017./AP
But the hardest blow was suffered, of course, by Qatar, which was declared non grata by the Gulf nations, Egypt, Yemen and Jordan, which turned the terrestrial and aerial blockade of the Gulf state into an economic one.
The new crown prince was the living spirit behind all these decisions, which required no more than a formal nod from his father.
The appointment, which has passed without opposition so far, and with the overwhelming support of the Allegiance Council (which, under the constitution, has the power to approve the appointment of heirs) is not expected to cause any new jolts in the kingdom.
Potential opponents have already been “summoned for a chat” in the king’s court. The new interior minister, Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef, is another youngster, just 34, and is very close to Mohammed bin Salman. From now on, he will be the one responsible for managing the struggle against internal terrorism. He will also be the crown prince’s partner in oppressing subversion.
To gratify the subjects ahead of the change, King Salman announced the extension of Id al-Fitr (to mark the end of Ramadan) by another week. He also returned all the financial emoluments that were recently taken away from government and army officials. A pay raise is a time-honored way of maintaining quiet calm in the Saudi kingdom.

Iraqi government ’made a mistake’ by attacking Mosul before capturing Isis sanctuaries
▻http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mosul-iraq-isis-patrick-cockburn-kirkuk-governor-fall-of-city-beginni

“There is no reconciliation [between Sunni and Shia],” says Mr Karim and this provides fertile ground for Isis to recruit fighters. The number of these may be growing in places like Hawija and Tal Afar west of Mosul as Isis loses ground elsewhere. He adds that “the Prime Minister [Haider al-Abadi] issues directives saying that places have been liberated and their people can go home, but nothing happens.” He suggested that the motive was “to make these areas pure” or, in other words, cleansed of Sunni Arabs who might support Isis or some similar militarised Sunni fundamentalist movement.

#dirigeants_arabes #indigents_arabes

Islamic State car bomb in Iraqi capital kills 115 - The Washington Post
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqi-officials-83-people-killed-in-2-bombings-in-baghdad/2016/07/03/5fde28a2-40f1-11e6-9e16-4cf01a41decb_story.html

Haider al-Abadi a[...] faced renewed criticism in Karada on Sunday over lax security in the capital, where security forces at checkpoints still use bomb-detecting wands that were shown to be useless years ago.

#dirigeants_criminels

ISIS is turning US Humvees into Iraq’s worst nightmare
▻https://finance.yahoo.com/news/isis-turning-us-humvees-iraqs-153100091.html

More than two-thirds of the Humvees the US supplied to Iraq to fight terrorists have ended up in the hands of Islamic State militants.

And the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh) has not wasted any time in converting those vehicles into one of its deadliest and most nightmarish tools: suicide car bombs.

According to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, ISIS controls about 2,300 armored US Humvees. Most of those vehicles were seized after ISIS overran Mosul in June 2014.

Report: Nasrallah Meets al-Sadr to Reconcile him with al-Maliki — Naharnet
▻http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/207104-report-nasrallah-meets-al-sadr-to-reconcile-him-with-al-maliki

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Hasrallah has met with powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Beirut in an effort to resolve the inter-Shiite conflict in the Arab country, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Friday.

The newspaper quoted informed sources in Beirut and Baghdad as saying that al-Sadr, who arrived in the Lebanese capital two days ago, met with Nasrallah in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The discussions focused on Iraq’s political crisis, they said.

According to the sources, Nasrallah is seeking a reconciliation between Sadr and former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

An emergency session of Iraq’s parliament descended into chaos on Wednesday, preventing a vote on a new cabinet amid a row over political blocs controlling key government posts.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called in February for change to the cabinet so that it includes technocrats.

That kicked off the latest chapter in a months-long saga of al-Abadi proposing various reforms that parties and politicians with interests in the existing system, mainly al-Maliki’s supporters, have sought to delay or undermine.

Al-Sadr later took up the demand for a technocratic government, organizing a two-week sit-in that put al-Abadi under pressure to act, but also supported the course of action he wanted to take.

Sadr relented after al-Abadi presented his first list of nominees at the end of March, but has yet to react to the most recent developments in efforts to replace the cabinet.

Traduction de l’arabe à l’anglais d’un article dans al-Raï d’Elijah Magnier, commentateur qui me semble mériter d’être lu :
▻https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/finishing-off-isisdaesh-is-not-a-priority-for-the-west
"Finishing off Daesh is not a priority for the West"

When Anbar and Ninoy tribes raided the city of Mosul back in June 2014, these tribes, followed by ISIS, claimed the victory to itself and overshadowed the influence of the tribes. Iraq was governed by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki who threw the Americans out of Iraq, and opened the doors of cooperation with Iran, so much so that almost every deal between the Prime minister, government cabinet, as well as the major and minor political parties and blocks, whether Sunni, Shi’a, or Kurds, were sketched and brokered in Tehran and Beirut.
Washington stood by as armed opposition against Baghdad grew, especially ISIS. It wanted ISIS to sow the seeds of destruction in Syria and Iraq; these allegations were confirmed by retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), in a report he had submitted to the US administration back in 2012.
There is no doubt that Iran’s increasing influence in the region harms US interests, and the interests of other regional players. The US moved to contain ISIS but not to destroy it, when it headed towards the oil rich city of Kirkuk, and the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where regional and international interests are present, in the form of military cooperation, and oil extraction contracts, it is also used by the CIA as a launching base for its operations in the region.
From this we can conclude that destroying ISIS would harm US interests because there would be no military excuse to be there, and hence Tehran would regain control of Iraq. Baghdad under Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi is convinced that the US can provide aerial and technological assistance for the Iraqi intellegence community, thus enabling security forces to strike ISIS where it hurts. Iran has been able to use the call of Seyyed Ali Al-Sistani to form the Popular Mobilization Forces enabling Tehran to regain a foothold in Iraq, by forming an alternative to the current security forces, and offering an alternative to Haider Al-Abadi that can challenge him in the future.

Le même avait déjà expliqué pourquoi le régime ne se concentrait pas encore sur Daesh :
For Assad defeating al-Qaeda and its allies, rather than ISIS, is a top priority : ISIS is a “marionette”.
►https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/why-defeating-al-qaeda-and-its-allies-is-a-top-priority-for-assa

La Turquie retourne à Mossoul en conduisant une nouvelle « révolte arabe »
Par M. K. Bhadrakumar | AsiaTimesOnline, le 7 décembre 2015 | traduction [JFG-QuestionsCritiques]
▻http://questionscritiques.free.fr/edito/AsiaTimesOnline/M_K_Bhadrakumar/Turquie-Mossoul_Irak_071215.htm

(...) C’est sans surprise que la Turquie se coordonne avec l’Arabie Saoudite et le Qatar — avec le soutien tacite de Washington — étant donné l’élan anti-iranien et anti-russe de sa manœuvre en vue d’établir un contrôle militaire sur la région de Mossoul, hautement stratégique.

Le Roi Salman d’Arabie Saoudite, avec une suite de 20 princes de premier rang à son service, dont le Prince héritier Mohammed ben Nayef et le vice-Prince héritier Mohammed ben Salman, a reçu Barzani pour un déjeuner royal, le 1er décembre, juste quatre jours avant que la Turquie n’envoie des centaines de soldats et de chars à Mossoul. Certes, le grand banquet offert par Salman à Barzani était un gros signal pour Téhéran (et Moscou) que les Saoudiens s’introduisent dans la politique turque.

Erdogan a l’intention de saper la capacité de la Russie et de l’Iran à utiliser la carte séparatiste kurde contre la Turquie, ce qui à son tour donnerait à Ankara une liberté d’action pour faire accepter le programme d’un « changement de régime » en Syrie, prendre le contrôle des vastes réserves d’hydrocarbures de la région (que la Grande-Bretagne impériale s’était accaparées en vertu de l’Armistice de Moudros en 1918) et de rallier les pays arabes sunnites sous son leadership.

Certes, Erdogan va devoir batailler. Téhéran a réagi furieusement à l’annonce turque concernant l’installation d’une base militaire à Mossoul, disant que cela « menace la sécurité de la région », laquelle, au lieu d’aider à combattre le terrorisme, ne fera qu’« accroître le chaos et l’insécurité » dans la région.

Le ministre irakien des affaires étrangères a convoqué l’ambassadeur turc pour protester contre cet « acte hostile » ; le Premier ministre Haïder al-Abadi a dit que c’était une « grave violation de la souveraineté irakienne » ; le Président Fouad Massoum a dit que ce mouvement est « une violation des normes et des lois internationales et de la souveraineté de l’Irak » et exigé que la Turquie retire ses troupes « immédiatement ». (...)

#Turquie #Mossoul #pétrole

L’Irak appelle la Turquie à retirer ses troupes de son territoire - 05/12/2015 - ladepeche.fr
▻http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2015/12/05/2231966-irak-bagdad-appelle-turquie-retirer-troupes-irak.html

http://static.ladepeche.fr/content/media/image/zoom/2015/12/05/part-was-was8968749-1-1-0.jpg

L’Irak a appelé samedi la Turquie à retirer « immédiatement » ses troupes de son territoire après le déploiement de soldats turcs dans les environs de Mossoul (nord), selon un communiqué officiel.

Le déploiement turc est considéré comme « une sérieuse violation de la souveraineté irakienne », a ajouté le communiqué diffusé par le Premier ministre Haider al-Abadi. « Les autorités irakiennes appellent la Turquie à se retirer immédiatement du territoire irakien ».

Selon l’agence progouvernementale turque Anatolie, quelque 150 soldats turcs sont arrivés vendredi dans les environs de Mossoul, deuxième ville d’Irak occupée par le groupe jihadiste Etat islamique (EI), dans le cadre d’une mission d’entraînement des troupes kurdes irakiennes.

Ce contingent turc, soutenu par 20 à 25 chars, s’est déployé dans la région de Bashika, a ajouté Anatolie. Des soldats turcs sont présents depuis deux ans et demi dans le nord de l’Irak dans le cadre d’un accord de coopération destiné à l’entraînement des « peshmergas », les troupes de la région autonome du Kurdistan irakien.

Dans ce(t article, Al-Mayadeen considère qu’il s’agit clairement de « châtier » les Kurdes de Syrie, pas assez hostiles au régime syrien. Une fois entrés, pas sûr que les Turcs s’en aillent de sitôt. En même temps, s’ils sont à Mossoul, on ne pourra plus les accuser de vendre le pétrole de l’EI !!!

#irak #turquie #pétrole #ei

France Should Stop Listening to Saudi Arabia on Syria | The Nation
▻http://www.thenation.com/article/france-should-stop-listening-to-saudi-arabia-on-syria

The Daesh line that the Paris attacks were to punish France for intervening in Syria is pure propaganda. The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had intelligence on this planned Daesh assault on the French capital some 18 months ago, at a time when France was not even participating in the Syria campaign. It seems rather that the reverse is true—France intervened in Syria beginning this September because it finally accepted these intelligence warnings and was attempting to disrupt the training camps from which an attack on Paris might be launched. As it turned out, the plot was already too advanced for the fall Syrian campaign to forestall it.

In his response to the Paris attacks Friday night, French President François Hollande said that his country is now at war. He would have been better off saying that his country was the victim of a criminal gang. Paris must also stop listening to Riyadh about how to proceed, and seek out effective allies on the ground to which to give aid. Those are Iraqi Shiites, Syrian Kurds, moderate Sunnis, and Iran. If Daesh can be brought down, Syria’s Al Qaeda should be the next to be neutralized. Assad, who produced the polarization and radicalism that now plagues Syria and the greater Mediterranean, must eventually acquiesce in free elections, as must his Sunni fundamentalist foes. But first things first. The mad bombers and beheaders of Raqqa and Mosul have to be dealt with. Despite its lip service, Saudi Arabia has shown it is unlikely to help much with that battle.

L’analyse dominante du moment affirme que le régime égyptien nie la possibilité d’une attaque terroriste contre l’avion russe, au motif qu’un tel attentat nuirait énormément à sa crédibilité et à sa pseudo-légitimité, locales et internationales, qui reposent sur la promesse de lutter contre le terrorisme islamiste. Dans la même idée, une telle attaque détruirait la propagande russe quant à son intervention en Syrie, qui elle aussi repose sur la promesse de réduire la menace terroriste. Il suffirait d’un attentat pour détruire ce qui se présente comme une répression anti-terroriste.

J’ai rarement vu des analystes qui confondent à ce point leurs désirs avec la réalité. Nous sommes tout de même dans un pays où, au premier attentat d’envergure, le gouvernement a lancé une nouvelle campagne de bombardements, les journaux ont enfilé leur tenue kaki, la population est allée défiler au pas – comme un seul homme prénommé Charlie – dans les rues de Paris et les enseignants se sont mis à dénoncer leurs élèves déviants (et nous sommes une démocratie libérale…). Ce serait tout de même bien la première fois qu’un (seul) attentat terroriste affaiblirait le soutien à la répression au lieu de la renforcer. Comment peut-on affirmer que le régime de Sissi va sortir affaibli d’un attentat terroriste qui, au contraire, lui permet de valider sa posture de rempart contre l’islamisme radical ? Et Poutine, sérieusement ?

Ce que je trouve encore plus remarquable ici, c’est que l’énoncé de cette fadaise est le fait de gens qui, justement, soutenaient encore jusqu’à la mi-2012 que c’était le régime syrien lui-même qui gonflait l’ampleur du risque terroriste pour assoir sa légitimité, voire même qui organisait lui-même des attentats false-flag pour diaboliser son opposition. Jusqu’à une époque très récente, nos journaux écrivaient systématiquement « terroriste » entre guillemets, prétendant que c’était une exagération du régime syrien lui-même. Bref : ceux-là mêmes qui prétendent que Sissi serait très affaibli si les gens savaient que son pays a subi un attaque terroriste, sont les mêmes qui prétendaient qu’Assad aurait été très renforcé en faisant croire que son pays subissait des attaques terroristes.

Ce qui m’amène à une troisième remarque : comment est-il possible que, spontanément, nos experts médiatiques s’alignent sur une analyse qui est évidemment fausse (le discours répressif et la répression qui seraient affaiblis et délégimités par les attaques terroristes), et qui par ailleurs est le contraire exacte de ce qu’on racontait encore récemment (le régime répressif syrien aurait eu, lui, tout intérêt à se poser en victime du terrorisme) ? Comment la presse libre du monde libre arrive-t-elle à ce genre de résultat ?

U.S. General Wins Assurance Iraq Will Not Seek Russia Air Strikes - The New York Times
▻http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/10/20/world/middleeast/20reuters-mideast-crisis-usa-iraq.html

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, under pressure to show progress in his war against Islamic State, said on Oct. 1 that he would welcome Russian air strikes in his country.

U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, on his first trip to Iraq since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct. 1, said Abadi and Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi both told him they were not seeking Russia’s help.

“I said it would make it very difficult for us to be able to provide the kind of support that you need if the Russians were here conducting operations as well,” Dunford told a small group of reporters traveling with him after his talks.

“Both the minister of defense and the prime minister said: ’Absolutely.’ There is no request right now for the Russians to support them, there’s no consideration for the Russians to support them, and the Russians haven’t asked them to come in and conduct operations.”

Dunford also played down a much-touted Baghdad-based intelligence-sharing cell between Russia, Iran, Syria and Iraq, which has stoked questions about Moscow’s intentions in Iraq.

A senior Iraqi parliamentary figure said last week that Baghdad had already begun bombing Islamic State jihadists with the help of new intelligence center in Baghdad.

But Obeidi, Dunford said, told him during closed-door talks in Baghdad that the intelligence cell so far “hasn’t stood up.”

“He said they have not done anything right now,” Dunford said.

Irak : le Parlement vote des réformes - Le Monde

▻http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2015/08/11/le-premier-ministre-irakien-lance-des-reformes-sous-pression-de-la-rue_47206

Il aura fallu une vague de chaleur, plus de 50 degrés dans les rues de Bagdad, pour que soudain la guerre contre l’Etat islamique (EI) passe au second plan et pour que l’Irak refasse de la politique. Depuis le 31 juillet, des manifestations ont lieu dans la capitale, dans le grand port du Sud, Bassora, et dans les villes saintes chiites de Nadjaf et Kerbala. On y dénonce des coupures d’électricité insupportables par cette chaleur, et la corruption au sein de l’Etat, qui en est l’une des causes. Poussé par la rue, le premier ministre, Haïder Al-Abadi a présenté, dimanche 9 août, un ambitieux plan de réforme du fonctionnement de l’Etat. Le Parlement, sous pression, a approuvé, mardi 11 août, les mesures anticorruption présentées par le chef du gouvernement.

Des milliers d’Irakiens manifestent depuis des semaines contre la corruption - TV5 Monde

▻http://information.tv5monde.com/en-continu/des-milliers-d-irakiens-manifestent-contre-la-corruption-46909

Des milliers d’Irakiens ont manifesté vendredi à Bagdad et dans le sud du pays contre la corruption et la vétusté des services publics dont celui de l’électricité fréquemment coupée.

« Nous mettrons les corrompus dehors », ont scandé les protestataires sur la place Tahrir dans la capitale irakienne, alors que des manifestations similaires ont eu lieu ces dernières semaines dans le pays.
(...) « Vendredi après vendredi, nous mettrons les corrompus dehors », a crié la foule en agitant des drapeaux irakiens.
(...) Des manifestations ont également eu lieu à Nassiriyah, Bassora, dans le sud du pays, ainsi qu’à Najaf, Kerbala et Hilla dans le centre, pour réclamer les mêmes exigences, selon des journalistes de l’AFP sur place. (...) Ces manifestations dans le sud chiite irakien, la base électorale de nombreux partis, portent en elles un sérieux défi pour le gouvernement, majoritairement chiite.

Depuis plusieurs semaines, à Bagdad et dans d’autres villes, de telles manifestations sont organisées contre la mauvaise qualité des services publics, et particulièrement les coupures d’électricité, qui laissent les Irakiens sans courant plusieurs heures par jour par des températures dépassant les 50° Celsius.
Les manifestants, majoritairement des Irakiens laïcs, accusent la corruption et l’incompétence de la classe politique d’être la cause de la vétusté des services publics.
(...)

Haider al-Abadi a pris ses fonctions il y a près d’un an, promettant d’agir avec fermeté contre la corruption qui avait marqué le mandat de son prédécesseur, Nouri al-Maliki.

Ce dernier avait été accusé de n’avoir pas su résoudre les nombreux problèmes des Irakiens (...) plusieurs observateurs estiment que les mécanismes de corruption existent encore aujourd’hui.

Dans ce contexte, la plus haute autorité chiite en Irak, l’ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a appelé vendredi M. Abadi, lui-même un chiite, à « être plus courageux » dans sa lutte contre la corruption.
(...)
M. Abadi devrait « demander des comptes aux partis politiques, et donner les noms de ceux qui se mettent en travers des réformes (...) ».

« Je déclare mon engagement total à suivre les conseils de la marjaïya (l’autorité religieuse chiite), qui a exprimé les inquiétudes et les aspirations du peuple irakien », a dit le PM dans un communiqué.

Sur @OrientXXI Les défis du gouvernement, par Feurat Alani ▻http://orientxxi.info/magazine/l-irak-peine-a-relever-les-defis,0782

The $30B Iraq Experiment
The Cable | Foreign Policy
▻http://foreignpolicy.com/channel/the-cable

Bankrupt on selling. Since January, the Pentagon has picked up the tab to ship almost 300 heavily armored MRAP vehicles and dozens of Humvees to an Iraqi Army struggling to find its feet after entire divisions broke and ran earlier this year in the face of the Islamic State.

The latest shipments of equipment are only a fraction of the estimated $30 billion that the American taxpayer has paid to train and equip — now for a second time in a decade — a force that has yet to really prove itself. From 2003 to 2011, the United States spent $25 billion to build a 400,000-strong Iraqi security force that today numbers (according to anyone’s best guess) in the tens of thousands. But that original $25 billion is old news, as the U.S. investment keeps growing.

After pulling combat troops out of Iraq at the end of 2011, Washington has spent almost $6 billion to retrain and equip the Iraqi Army.

For starters, the Defense Department spent $857 million to run the Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq out of the embassy in Baghdad between 2012 and 2014. The office, which kept a small U.S. military staff, focused on mentoring Iraqi military leadership and managing and planning weapons buys. There is also the $1.6 billion that Congress agreed to in 2015 for the Iraqi Train and Equip Fund, along with the $700 million that the Pentagon has requested for the fund training in the 2016 budget.

Add to that the $3.3 billion (or $9.4 million per day) that the Pentagon has paid since last August to fly strike missions over Iraq and Syria, as well as to house, feed, and provide security for the 3,500 U.S. military trainers in Iraq.

Some of those strike missions, of course, have involved bombing military equipment that the United States handed over the Iraqi forces. In total, American aircraft have bombed 336 Humvees captured by the Islamic State, which is only a small portion of the 2,300 Humvees that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the jihadists captured from Iraqi forces when they abandoned Mosul earlier this year. American aircraft have also hit 116 tanks, some of which are also American-made.

Despite the tens of billions spent on training hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops in the early 2000s, according to the latest numbers the U.S. Central Command provided to FP, there’s still plenty of work to do. A total of 11,100 Iraqi troops have gone through the newest U.S. training program in recent months, while another 3,000 are currently being run through the five U.S.-staffed training sites in Iraq.

Nucléaire iranien : Obama a envoyé un message secret à Téhéran (rapport) | i24news -
30 Juin 2015
▻http://www.i24news.tv/fr/actu/international/76651-150630-nucleaire-iranien-obama-a-envoye-un-message-secret-a-teheran-ra

Le président américain Barack Obama a envoyé un « message secret » au leadership iranien concernant les négociations qui se tiennent actuellement à Vienne sur le programme nucléaire de Téhéran, a indiqué l’agence de presse Fars lundi soir.

« Un responsable de l’un des pays voisins a récemment apporté un message du président aux fonctionnaires de notre pays », a déclaré Merhad Bazrpash, membre du Parlement iranien à Fars, en référence au Premier ministre irakien Haider al-Abadi.

Bazrpash a dénoncé l’hypocrisie des Américains, soulignant le décalage entre les messages privés et les déclarations publiques souvent menaçantes de Washington.

Les tractations internationales sur le nucléaire iranien se sont poursuivies discrètement lundi au niveau des experts, avant le retour des politiques cette semaine dans la capitale autrichienne pour trancher sur les points les plus durs de la négociation.

« Nous travaillons et il est trop tôt pour porter un jugement » sur le résultat, a déclaré le secrétaire d’Etat américain John Kerry, à la veille de la date-butoir du 30 juin qui avait initialement fixée pour un accord.

M. Kerry, seul ministre des Affaires étrangères resté à Vienne après un week-end de ballet diplomatique, a rencontré lundi matin Yukiya Amano, le chef de l’Agence internationale de l’Energie atomique (AIEA), l’organe de l’ONU qui jouera un rôle clé dans la vérification de la mise en oeuvre de l’accord, s’il est conclu.

De son côté, la France se préparerait pour la reprise de ses relations économiques avec l’Iran dans un avenir proche suivant la signature d’un accord, selon Reuters.

Un diplomate français a déclaré à Reuters que le chef de la diplomatie Laurent Fabius avait prévu de se rendre dans la capitale iranienne peu de temps après la conclusion d’un accord, dans le but de normaliser les relations entre les deux pays.

Les échanges commerciaux entre la France et la République islamique ont totalisé plus de 3,4 milliards de dollars en 2011, d’après Reuters et ont chuté à 556 millions après l’imposition de sanctions économiques sévères contre Téhéran en 2013.

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Message d’Obama à l’Iran avant les négociations nucléaires de Vienne
AFP / 29 juin 2015
▻http://www.romandie.com/news/Message-dObama-a-lIran-avant-les-negociations-nucleaires-de-Vienne/607260.rom

Est-ce que des fois les Américains s’écoutent parler ? Selon cette exigence, les forces américaines elles-mêmes seraient « soumises au commandement du premier ministre irakien » (ah ah ah !), ainsi que les « forces » des 62 pays qui prétendent composer la coalition – tu vois un peu ça : les forces séoudiennes « sous le commandement » de Haider al-Abadi ? Et aussi les « rebelles syriens modérés » ? (Ouch, aïe, j’en ai mal aux côtes, là…)
▻http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/etat-islamique-la-coalition-internationale-reunie-a-paris-02-06-2015-1932891

Les Irakiens espèrent pouvoir mobiliser les tribus sunnites pour reconquérir la province d’Al-Anbar, mais Bagdad doit également reprendre rapidement le contrôle des milices chiites qui ont pour l’heure assumé l’essentiel des combats pour contenir l’avancée de l’EI. Ce rôle des milices chiites - soutenues par Téhéran - inquiète Washington.

« Il est très important que toutes les forces soient soumises au commandement et au contrôle du gouvernement et du Premier ministre irakien. C’est un des éléments fondamentaux du plan », a souligné le responsable américain.

#Iraq PM Slams “Slowness” of #US Aid Against #ISIS
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraq-pm-slams-slowness%E2%80%9D-us-anti-isis-aid

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi criticized on Sunday the “slowness” of the US-led international coalition against Islamic State of Iraq and #syria (ISIS) extremist group in providing military support to his army. “The international coalition is very slow in its support and training of the army” in Iraq, Abadi said at a meeting with a group of journalists during an official visit to Cairo. Abadi acknowledged that “in the last two weeks there has been an acceleration," urging, however, a “further acceleration” in the assistance provided to the Iraqi army. read more

#Haidar_al-Abadi

Iraq PM dismisses 24 interior ministry commanders - Ahram Online

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/116950.aspx

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has dismissed 24 senior interior ministry officers, a statement from his office said on Monday.
It did not provide a specific explanation for their dismissal, but Abadi has been sacking and retiring a raft of top security officials since he took office three months ago.

“New officers were appointed as part of the drive to reform the security apparatus... and improve its efficiency in confronting terrorism,” the statement said.

The latest announcement came a day after he announced that a graft probe had uncovered the existence of 50,000 “ghost soldiers” on the army’s payroll.

His spokesman said that the drive to curb corruption which observers said reached unprecedented heights under his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki would spread to all state institutions.

Abadi has already fired or retired several generals who were seen as responsible for the armed forces’ abysmal performance when the Islamic State group swept through swathes of Iraq in June.

He also dismantled the office of the commander in chief, an extra-constitutional body which Maliki had set up to retain effective control over the interior and defence ministries.

Investigation finds 50,000 ‘ghost’ soldiers in Iraqi army, prime minister says
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/investigation-finds-50000-ghost-soldiers-in-iraqi-army-prime-minister-says/2014/11/30/d8864d6c-78ab-11e4-9721-80b3d95a28a9_story.html

The Iraqi army has been paying salaries to at least 50,000 soldiers who don’t exist, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Sunday, an indication of the level of corruption that permeates an institution that the United States has spent billions equipping and arming.

A preliminary investigation into “ghost soldiers” — whose salaries are being drawn but who are not in military service — revealed the tens of thousands of false names on Defense Ministry rolls, Abadi told parliament Sunday. Follow-up investigations are expected to uncover “more and more,” he added.

Abadi, who took power in September, is under pressure to stamp out the graft that flourished in the armed forces under his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki. Widespread corruption has been blamed for contributing to the collapse of four of the army’s 14 divisions in June in the face of an offensive by Islamic State extremists.

The United States is encouraging Abadi to create a leaner, more efficient military as the Pentagon requests $1.2 billion to train and equip the Iraqi army next year. The United States spent more than $20 billion on the force from the 2003 invasion until U.S. troops withdrew at the end of 2011.