Randa Slim

Inserted 2 years ago

“Sunday's attack is not just an attack on al-Kadhimi, it is also an attack against the political class. It really amounts to a coup attempt. While there has been no claim of responsibility, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence pointing to the Iran-backed Iraqi militias. Recently, some members of the militias have been indicted for killing some of the protesters two years ago. And al-Kadhimi's late adviser, Hisham al-Hashemi, was assassinated by suspected members of these militias. So they and al-Kadhimi have been engaged in this tug of war and they stand to benefit most from forcing al-Kadhimi out of the picture. But in my opinion, it's a very stupid and shortsighted move, because if anything it's going to make al-Kadhimi a victim and will elevate his political chances of going back to the prime minister's office.”

Aljazeera

Director of the Conflict Resolution and Track Two Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute