Police in Iraq’s Kurdistan region arrest opposition leader
Iraqi Kurdish police stated that they had arrested the main opposition party leader in the autonomous Kurdistan region in north Iraq, according to The New Arab via AFP on August 13th.
Shaswar Abdulwahid, a former businessman, heads the New Generation party, which has 15 of the 100 seats in the Kurdish region’s parliament and serves as the primary opposition to the two ex-rebel groups that have served a key role in Kurdish politics for tens of years.
The businessman-turned-politician was arrested at his home in the major city of Sulaimaniyah in the Iraqi region of Kurdistan on August 12th.
A court official, who requested anonymity, stated that Abdulwahid was sentenced in absentia to six months in jail after repeatedly missing hearings related to a defamation case filed by an ex-lawmaker.
The New Generation party heavily criticised its leader’s arrest, calling it an attempt to derail a major initiative planned for the week commencing August 18th to address the salary payment delays faced by civil servants in the region.
The arrest is not a new occurrence for Abdulwahid. He has been arrested multiple times since the party was formed in 2017 and has also survived an assassination attempt.
The ruling alliance of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has been accused by human rights groups of suppressing dissent and making arbitrary arrests.
Iraq’s Kurdish region has been subjected to increasing insecurity following a series of drone attacks on regional infrastructure, such as on oil fields on July 16th. This has exposed tensions between Kurdistan and Baghdad. Major political and legal disputes have occurred relating to oil revenues, worsened by the suspension of a key export pipeline to Turkey in 2023.
However, tensions seem to be easing as Iraq’s cabinet approved a long-awaited crude oil deal with the Kurdish region on July 17th, which would reinstate their ties for oil exports and public sector salaries.
The New Arab via AFP, Maghrebi.org
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