Syrian rebel leader calls on Iraqi PM to distance country from Syria war

"We urge him (Sudani) to distance Iraq from entering the new furnace of what is happening in Syria," said Jolani, head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), in a video message posted on the opposition faction leadership's Telegram channel.

Iraq's powerful Iran-aligned Kataeb Hezbollah armed group on Monday called on Baghdad to send troops to Syria to support the Damascus government. Kataeb Hezbollah is part of Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance of Iran-backed former paramilitary groups now integrated in Iraq's regular armed forces.

Jolani urged Sudani to "prevent the Iraqi Hashed al-Shaabi from interfering in what is happening in Syria".

He added: "There are many fears and illusions -- that some Iraqi politicians believe -- that what is happening in Syria will extend to Iraq. I say firmly that this is 100 percent wrong."

The Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces, is under the Iraqi prime minister's command and denies involvement outside Iraq's borders.

Kataeb Hezbollah has previously fought in Syria alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

On Monday, Iraq said it had sent armoured vehicles to bolster security along its 600-kilometre (370-mile) border with Syria.

Sudani told Assad on Saturday that his country's security is "closely linked to Iraq's national security" while playing a "crucial role in regional security and efforts to establish stability in the Middle East," Sudani's office said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, earlier this week reported about 200 pro-Iranian Iraqi fighters entered Syria to back government forces.

Iraq remains scarred by the rise of the Islamic State group in 2014, which saw the jihadists capture nearly a third of the country before local forces backed by a US-led coalition defeated them in 2017.

Influential Shiite cleric Sadr urges Iraq to keep out of Syria fighting
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 5, 2024 - Influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr urged his country Thursday to stay out of the fighting in neighbouring Syria triggered by a lightning rebel offensive launched last week.

Sadr stressed in a post on X the "necessity of Iraq's government, people, parties, militias and security forces not getting involved in the Syrian issue", urging the government to "punish all those who violate... security".

Syrian Islamist rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani had earlier called on Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to keep his country distant from Syria's war.

Iraq's powerful Iran-aligned Kataeb Hezbollah armed group on Monday called on Baghdad to send troops to Syria to support the Damascus government.

Kataeb Hezbollah is part of the so-called "axis of resistance" backed by Iran and opposed to Israel and the US presence in the region.

In Iraq, it is part of the Hashed al-Shaabi, a coalition of former paramilitary forces now integrated into the regular armed forces.

On Thursday, Jolani urged Sudani to "prevent the Iraqi Hashed al-Shaabi from interfering in what is happening in Syria".

"There are many fears and illusions -- that some Iraqi politicians believe -- that what is happening in Syria will extend to Iraq. I say firmly that this is 100 percent wrong."

An Iraqi government official told AFP that Baghdad's "red line" would be crossed if the rebels advanced towards eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq, or towards the capital Damascus and the Shiite shrine of Sayeda Zeinab in its sosuthern suburbs.

An official from a leading Iran-backed Iraqi armed group meanwhile acknowledged that involvement in Syria would be "difficult", citing the fear of Israeli or US strikes.

"We have our own secure routes if we want to reach the front, but until now this decision has not been taken," the official said on condition of anonymity.