Iraqi prime minister vows to bring expert’s killers to justice

Immediately after the attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi pledged to pursue and bring Hashimi’s killers to justice, and dismissed the commander of the First Division of the Federal Police, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Qassim, indicating possible police involvement in the attack.

Iraq’s interior minister has formed a special investigation team to find the perpetrators.

The Iraqi president and parliament speaker were among many other Iraqi officials who condemned the incident, calling upon the government to stop the militias and extremist threats against Iraqi figures.

The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency claimed responsibility for the killing. However, many Iraqis including Hashimi’s colleagues are questioning the idea of IS involvement, pointing fingers at the militias that have attacked Hashimi over social media for his criticism of their activities against the Iraqi state and the foreign diplomatic missions in Iraq.

In a recent interview, Hashimi slammed PMU leaders and their political allies for protecting militants that must be prosecuted. Hashimi was also a supporter of the protests against corrupt Iraqi political parties.

The assassination comes amid a security decline in Baghdad, as anti-US militias are increasing rocket attacks against the US Embassy and US military bases.

A group of Kataib Hezbollah militants were arrested last June for preparing an attack against US bases, but they were soon released under pressure from the militia.

It seems that the militias are going on the offensive against the Iraqi prime minister to create obstacles to his reform plans, especially in the security field. Kadhimi has been replacing many security officials to enhance the state’s efforts against the militias and their targeting of foreign diplomatic missions.

He replaced the head of security for the Green Zone after Kata’ib Hezbollah was able to penetrate the area and gather to demand the release of their members.

Kadhimi also dismissed Falih al-Fayyadh and replaced him with Qasem al-Araji as national security adviser. He also appointed the head of the state’s Counter-Terrorism Service, Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, to head the National Security Apparatus.

Kadhimi’s reform efforts have stirred the ire of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mehr News, an Iranian news outlet close to the IRGC, has blasted Kadhimi for his actions during the last two months against the PMU, calling his reform plans an anti-Iran agenda. Kadhimi is working to maintain a good relationship with the Iranians and is trying to build strong ties with all Iraq’s neighboring countries including Iran to avert clashes on Iraqi territory.

He has launched a strategic dialogue with the United States, the first session of which took place in June. Kadhimi himself is supposed to lead the second round in his upcoming visit to the United States.

Kadhimi is trying to ease Iran-US tension to shield Iraq from a spillover of confrontation. Iraq has become a battleground between the United States and Iran after the Americans killed Iran’s top commander early this year, followed by Iran bombing the US military base of Ain al-Asad in western Iraq.

However, the militias insist on the immediate expulsion of US troops from Iraq before engaging in any dialogue.