SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Pro-Iran group stages armed Baghdad rally
Baghdad, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2021
Masked gunmen in a convoy of pick-ups drove through the Iraqi capital Thursday staging a show of force against Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi who has proposed a new dialogue with Washington.

Militants of the Rabaa Allah group brandished mocking portraits of the prime minister, who is seen as pro-American, and other government officials showing their faces trampled underfoot.

Rabaa Allah is the newest and most powerful of a myriad of pro-Iran groups in Iraq.

It is seen by experts as a cover for Kataeb Hezbollah which has been integrated into the Iraqi security forces, giving it leeway to oppose the official line.

"We've brought out our men and our guns to send out a message of warning... to the American occupiers and the collaborating (Iraqi) government," a Rabaa Allah militant said in a statement read out at the rally.

On Tuesday, a government official announced that Baghdad has requested a "strategic dialogue" with US President Joe Biden's administration.

The two countries have yet to reach an accord on the 2,500 US troops stationed in Iraq.

The Iraqi parliament called for their withdrawal following a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in January 2020 that killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.

Rabaa Allah militants have set fire to the offices of a television station and a Kurdish party, while also carrying out raids on alcohol stores.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Detection of ancient water ice suggests interstellar origins predating the Sun
Missing Matter in Universe Found
What if the Big Bang wasn't the beginning? Our research suggests it may have taken place inside a black hole

24/7 Energy News Coverage
World Bank lifts ban on nuclear energy financing
Waymo leads autonomous taxi race in the US
MXene infused printed nanogenerator advances ecofriendly wearable energy systems

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Israel, Iran exchange more deadly airstrikes on fifth day of conflict
Amid Israel-Iran war, Nimitz aircraft carrier to join Vinson in Middle East
B61-13 gravity bomb reaches first production milestone ahead of projected timeline

24/7 News Coverage
China expands disaster monitoring with launch of Zhangheng 1B satellite
Heat tolerant crops achievable but require long timelines and major investment
S.African president blames climate change for 'catastrophic' floods



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.