Iraq

BAGHDAD, Feb 17 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi security forces, yesterday, killed three militants of the extremist Daesh group, in the provinces of Salahudin and Diyala, security sources said.

In Salahudin province, north of Baghdad, the security forces, backed by the Iraqi air force, carried out an operation in the Himreen mountain range, killing two Daesh militants and destroying three of their hideouts, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said, in a statement.

15 Feb 2022; MEMO: The top Iraqi Court, on Tuesday, ruled that the law on gas and oil in Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is against the central government's Constitution and that the revenue from exported oil should be delivered to Baghdad.

According to the Iraqi state news agency, INA, the members of the Supreme Federal Court discussed the issue of oil exports from KRG, ruling: "The oil and gas law in the KRG is against the Constitution of the federal government (Baghdad) and is not legal."

16 Feb 2022; MEMO: A total of 60 people have submitted applications to run for Iraq's presidency, the country's parliament said on Monday.

Parliamentary secretary Baydaa Khidir said the deadline for new applications was extended following parliament's failure to elect a president on 7 February.

14 Feb 2022; MEMO: Iraq's Supreme Federal Court has ruled that former foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari is not eligible to run for the presidency amid corruption allegations, Reuters quoted the state news agency as reporting on Sunday.

Zebari, a prominent Kurdish politician who served as Iraq's foreign minister for more than a decade, was finance minister when he was sacked by parliament in 2016 over alleged corruption. He denied the accusations and said they are politically motivated.

BAGHDAD, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court decided Sunday to cancel Hoshyar Zebari's presidential candidacy, a week after suspending his nomination over a corruption lawsuit against him.

A statement by the court said that it has decided to cancel Zebari's candidacy for the presidency of the republic for not fulfilling the conditions for nomination stipulated in the country's constitution.

BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The next leader of Islamic State is likely to be from a close circle of battle-hardened Iraqi jihadists who emerged in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S. invasion, two Iraqi security officials and three independent analysts said.

The group of potential successors to Abu Ibrahim al-Quraishi, who blew himself up during a U.S. operation to capture him in Syria last week, includes one commander whom Washington and Baghdad declared killed last year, the Iraqi officials said.

09 Feb 2022; MEMO: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force Commander, Brigadier General Ismail Qaani held a meeting with Iraq's influential cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr in the city of Najaf, south of Iraq, yesterday.

Al-Sadr's media office made the announcement in a statement but gave no further details about the content of the meeting.

BAGHDAD, Feb 8 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi authorities yesterday, retrieved from Lebanon, 337 ancient artefacts, which were looted after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Among the retrieved artefacts are 331 cuneiform tablets, dating back to the Akkadian Empire and other early dynasties, more than 4,000 years ago, while the remaining six, date from the Old Babylonian Empire, more than 3,000 years ago, said Laith Hussein, head of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, at a press conference.

BAGHDAD, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament) on Tuesday reopened the nomination for the post of president of the country for three days, after the parliament failed on Monday to hold its second session to elect a new president.

The parliament decided to open the door for candidacy for the post starting from Wednesday and will continue for three days, the Iraqi parliament said in a statement, citing that the decision came due to the expiration of the constitutional period of 30 days (from the first session on Jan. 9) to elect a new president.

BAGHDAD, Feb 7 (NNN-NINA) – A Kurdish political party and a Sunni political alliance, decided yesterday, to boycott the parliament session slated for today, to elect a new president for the country, threatening to postpone the session.

“To complete the ongoing consultations and dialogues between the political blocs, we decided not to attend the session of the Council of Representatives (parliament) for tomorrow (today), Monday,” the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), headed by the Kurdish leader, Masoud Barzani, who won 33 seats in the Oct 10 elections, said in a statement.