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BAGHDAD, June 14 (Reuters) - Moqtada al-Sadr has raised the stakes in the struggle for Iraq with a major political escalation that could lead to conflict with his Iran-backed rivals or force a compromise in their tussle over government.

Frustrated at being unable to form an administration eight months after his party won the biggest share of seats in parliament, the Shi'ite Muslim cleric steered Iraqi politics into uncharted territory on Sunday when his lawmakers quit. read more

The step points to a deepening struggle for influence in the Shi'ite community that has been ascendant since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein two decades ago.

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A serious challenge to the post-Saddam order, Sadr's move has presented his Iran-backed rivals with a major dilemma.

In theory, they could now form an administration of their choosing to replace the outgoing government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who continues as caretaker.

But in reality, analysts say such a move would likely provoke unrest and even conflict with Sadr's vast support base, which has previously taken up arms.

For Iran, the latest twist in Iraq's political crisis is an unwelcome development, underlining intra-Shi'ite fissures that risk undermining its influence and playing to the advantage of its Gulf Arab adversaries.

Sadr, who has positioned himself as an opponent of U.S. and Iranian influence, has not detailed his reasons for quitting parliament. In a handwritten note, he described it as "a sacrifice" for the homeland.

Sadr's Iran-backed opponents appear to be moving cautiously, well aware of his capacity to mobilise. They convened a meeting on Monday but announced no new decisions.

"We are caught off guard by Sadr's surprising decision and we think a bad scenario is waiting for us in case we move ahead and form a government," Ahmed Kinani, an Iran-aligned Shi'ite politician, told Reuters.

"We must read the recent, crucial development very carefully before deciding the next step, because forming a government without Sadrists will be a huge risk. We don't want to be ambushed."

Sadr has not declared his next move.

He has a track record of radical action, including fighting U.S. forces, quitting cabinets, and protesting against governments. Last year, he declared he would boycott the election, before reversing course. read more

"We are out of the political scene now, and let's see how a new government will stand without Sadrists," said a source at his office, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to make media statements.

Ihsan al-Shammari, head of the Iraqi Centre for Political Thought, did not expect Sadr's rivals to form a government alone. "Such a government will be born dead because Sadr followers will not accept to see Moqtada broken and politically isolated by powers supported by Iran," he said.

Heir to a clerical dynasty, Sadr shot to prominence after the invasion, establishing a force of fiercely loyal fighters that waged war on U.S. forces and later clashed with Iraqi authorities. read more

He has sought to set himself apart from Iran-backed rivals in recent years, emphasising his Iraqi nationalist credentials.

He has also installed many followers in state positions, whilst tapping public anger at the government's corruption and failure to provide services despite Iraq's oil wealth.

Iraq has been politically deadlocked since October's election, in which Sadr won 73 of 329 seats and the Iran-backed factions - which retain militias - performed poorly.

Alleging vote rigging, Sadr's opponents have thwarted his efforts to form a new administration with Kurdish and Sunni Arab allies.

Parliament has failed three times to elect a new president - reserved for a Kurd in Iraq's power-sharing system - because a two-thirds quorum could not be secured. read more

Sadr's efforts to form a new government excluding key Iranian allies have also gone nowhere.

Underlining intra-Shi'ite tensions since the vote, the residence of the Shi'ite Prime Minister Kadhimi came under drone attack in November. Iraqi officials and analysts have said the attack, from which Kadhimi escaped unhurt, was meant as a message by some of the Iran-backed groups. read more

Sharp divisions among Iran-backed groups on how to respond to Sadr's move surfaced at Monday's meeting, according to an attendee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the proceedings were secret.

Following the meeting, Hadi al-Amiri, head of an Iran-backed militia, urged intervention by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, to save the situation.

Sistani, who rarely weighs in on politics except in times of crisis, holds massive influence in Shiite majority Iraq.

Hamdi Malik, an associate fellow at the Washington Institute, expected Iran would seek to calm the situation.

"What they don't want to see happening is for the Shia to go to war with each other, and (avoiding) this is going to be their main effort at this stage," he said.

"Iran thinks this will benefit others in the region, including the Arab Gulf states, allowing the Kurds to grow more powerful, and the Sunnis to strengthen their ties with Sunni states. So they do not want this current system ... to collapse," he said.

Sadr "knows his cards very well, and he is playing them, but in a completely radical manner".

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Additional reporting by Amina Ismail and Charlotte Bruneau in Baghdad and Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry, Editing by William Maclean

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Analysis: Sadr raises the stakes in struggle for Iraq | Reuters

LAKE SAWA, Iraq (AP) Hussam al-Aqouli remembers the exact spot along southern Iraqs Lake Sawa where his two daughters once dipped their feet into clear waters. Now he stands there two years on and the barren earth cracks beneath him.

This year, for the first time in its centuries-long history, the lake dried up. A combination of mismanagement by local investors, government neglect and climate change has ground down its azure shores to chunks of salt.

Lake Sawa is only the latest casualty in this broad country-wide struggle with water shortages that experts say is induced by climate change, including record low rainfall and back-to-back drought. The stress on water resources is driving up competition for the precious resource among businessmen, farmers and herders, with the poorest Iraqis counting among the worst hit amid the disaster.

This lake was known as the pearl of the south, said al-Aqouli, 35, a native of the nearby city of Samawa, looking out onto the dry cavernous emptiness. Now it is our tragedy.

Between the capital Baghdad and the oil-rich heartland of Basra, Muthanna is among Iraqs poorest provinces. The number of those living under the poverty line in the province is almost three times the national average.

Desert expanses dominate the landscape with a narrow ribbon of farmland along the Euphrates River in the north. Economic development was hindered by the countrys turbulent history, neglect by the Baath party regime since the 1980s, then later by wars and sanctions.

Locals call the area surrounding Lake Sawa atshan or simply thirsty in Arabic.

Formed over limestone rock and studded with gypsum formations, the lake has no inlet or outlet and the source of its waters had mystified experts for centuries, fueling fantastical folklore and religious tales that locals recite as historical fact.

Al-Aqouli spent his childhood frequenting the lake with his family. He hoped he could do the same when he started a family, he said. Instead he spends his days on social media writing long blog posts and urging Iraqis to take action. Often, he feels hopeless.

Story continues

The lake rises 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level and is about 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) long and 1.8 kilometers (1 mile) wide.

Lake Sawa appears in some old Islamic texts. It is said the lake miraculously formed on the day the Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 A.D. Thousands of religious tourists visited the site annually to submerge themselves in its holy waters, which they believe are blessed by God.

The lakes rich mineral deposits are also considered a cure by some for skin diseases prevalent in historically neglected Muthanna.

Locals say the drying up of the waters of Lake Sawa presages the return of the Imam al-Mahdi, a revered figure in Shiite Islam and a descendent of the prophet.

It means the end of days is near, said al-Aqouli, in jest.

For environmentalists, the doomsday predictions may not be far off.

Studies have shown the lake is fed by underground water sources through a system of cracks and fissures. It can also receive rainwater from surrounding valleys and heavy rainfall in past years has caused flash floods.

The degradation of the water began over 10 years ago, but this summer was the first time we lost the entire wetland, said Laith Ali al-Obeidi, an environmental activist in southern Iraq.

Experts said the lake has not dried up for good but its disappearance this year is a concerning consequence of the thousands of illegal wells dug by businessmen in nearby cement factories and manufacturing zones, a result of drought and decreasing waters along the nearby Euphrates.

By early June, some water began to reappear because farmers, done with the harvest season, stopped diverting underground water.

Mounds of salt line the road to the river in Muthanna province and are overseen by enterprising locals who extract it by diverting groundwater and digging wells. The salt is used as a raw material in various industries in the area.

Mortadha Ali, 45, is involved in the salt business in Muthanna. He blames years of government neglect in the province for the disappearance of Lake Sawa. They should provide people with jobs, so they arent obliged to dig wells to make a living, he said.

Enforcing the closure of illegal wells and additional protective measures would have reversed Lake Sawa's decline, said Aoun Diab, an adviser to the Water Resources Ministry. But these would have directly affected the economic interests of provincial officials.

This has disrupted a delicate and interdependent ecosystem sustained by the rare desert oasis.

Species of fish, unfit for human consumption, were food for various vulnerable migratory birds that sojourned along its banks. With the fish gone, the birds too will have to reroute their seasonal passage or perish, said al-Obeidi.

And the future is poised to bring more hardship, with alarming predictions of more water stress. The Water Resources Ministry has said water levels decreased by 60% compared to last year in 2022.

Lake Sawa is a case study for climate change in Iraq, al-Obeidi said. This is the future.

But the lake is also a ghost of its former illustrious past.

The only body of water near to the city of Samawah, the area boasted thousands of tourists a year. Their waste water bottles, soda cans and abandoned flip flops remain along the dried up shores as an ode to what the impoverished area has lost.

Holiday installations built decades ago stand half-finished. Most were looted after the Gulf War in the 1990s and then after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

In 2014, Lake Sawa was named a Ramsar site, an international designation for important wetlands, gaining recognition as a rare area in need of protection. A large billboard marking the occasion overlooks the site. Local authorities hoped this would boost tourism and government resources to resume development of the area. Plans were drafted to pave roads and walkways around the lake, as well as electricity lines and water projects.

Ultimately, these failed to transpire.

The hot air was heavy as al-Aqouli took one last look of the lake before leaving.

Believe me, it was beautiful, he said.

See the article here:
Iraq's 'pearl of the south' Lake Sawa dry amid water crisis

Five years ago, Iraqi taxi driver Osama Mohammed would make about six trips a day across Baghdad. Today, traffic is so bad he feels lucky to do three.

"The first thing you see in the morning is traffic jams," said 40-year-old Mohammed, describing his "exhaustion" at the stop-and-go traffic he endures across the sprawling capital.

It has become so bad that he now often turns down fares.

"It is better to forget about it because you will spend two hours on the road," he said. "Your day will end in traffic jams."

Experts point at many reasons for the growing chaos: a post-war mini boom has brought more people and more cars, while the war-battered infrastructure has barely changed.

Security checkpoints still add to the gridlock, a legacy of the years of war and sectarian conflict when Baghdad was rocked by frequent car bombings.

Most importantly, political paralysis and a state sector hobbled by widespread corruption have snarled road and rail projects that could bring relief.

In a city of eight million, the number of vehicles has surged from 350,000 before 2007 to over 2.5 million today, said Baghdad municipality spokesman Mohammed al-Rubaye.

The research group Future of Iraq estimates that the fuel each vehicle wastes daily by idling in Baghdad traffic jams is equivalent to driving 20 kilometres (12 miles).

The problem intensifies air pollution in a country already struggling with more frequent sandstorms, a trend linked to climate change, and blistering summer heat that peaks above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).

- Legacy of war -

Baghdad's roadside concrete blast walls may have largely gone, but decades of war have left a legacy of pockmarked roads and dilapidated infrastructure.

The country suffered through the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, the US-led invasion in 2003, years of sectarian fighting and the battle against the Islamic State group's jihadists who were finally defeated in 2017.

Since then, entire new neighbourhoods and high-rise buildings have sprung up, such as the futuristic new central bank headquarters designed by the firm of late Iraqi-British star architect Zaha Hadid.

The relative stability has accelerated domestic migration, particularly an influx of labourers from the impoverished south.

But the capital still lacks a robust public transport system, with no trains or trams and only infrequent buses.

A metro rail system would "reduce congestion by 40 percent", estimated Rubaye, but for now this is a distant dream.

One such project was envisioned in 2011 with French firm Alstom. And in 2020 a letter of intent was signed to develop a 20-kilometre (12-mile) 14-station elevated metro system.

Some $45 million has already been spent on the project plans, according to former Baghdad governor Faleh al-Jazairi, but with no visible impact so far.

- 'More cars than people' -

The large infrastructure projects have been stalled amid political logjams in Iraq's dysfunctional parliament.

Since Iraq held legislative elections in October, the MPs have failed to elect a new president and government, due to political wrangling among powerful Shiite factions.

The inaction and waste are exacerbated by large-scale graft in a country ranked among the worst in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

And so the rush-hour traffic keeps grinding to a standstill on Abu Nawas road, the capital's main thoroughfare running along the bank of the Tigris River.

A police traffic officer who gave his name only as Hussein grumbled that many roads "haven't been modernised" for decades and that now "it's like there are more cars than people".

Some suggest that in Iraq, known in Arabic as the Land of the Two Rivers, water transport on the Tigris could offer a much-needed remedy to the city's traffic problem.

But for now, only a handful of tourist boats ply its waves, offering views of another wartime legacy, the heavily fortified "Green Zone" district of government buildings and embassies.

The prospect of a riverine public transport system seems unlikely, opined one resident, Yasser al-Saffar.

"Everyone who lives in the Green Zone," he said, "will consider such a project a threat."

Original post:
Life in the slow lane for Iraq's gridlocked traffic - Al-Monitor

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqs Army Chief of Staff, Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, met on Tuesday with the commander of NATO Mission in Iraq, General Giovanni Iannucci, to discuss several topics, according to a statement of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense cited by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The statement mentioned that the meeting was attended by advisors of the NATO mission in Iraq, Director of Infantry, Director of Military Training and some specialized military officers.

The meeting discussed the cooperation with the NATO mission in Iraq in terms of training and providing advisory to develop the capabilities of the Iraqi army, according to the statement.

Iannucci held another meeting on Tuesday with the General Military Inspector, Imad Yassin Al-Zuhairi, where both discussed a mechanism for developing and modernizing the military system in terms of training, education, coordination and joint cooperation, according to a press statement issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.

During the meeting, Al-Zuhairi confirmed that Iraq has a strong partnership with the NATO, and the NATO has a major role in training the Iraqi armed forces, and helping Iraq in its war against ISIS terrorists because of the intensive military experience of the NATO.

Iannucci commended the role of the Iraqi army and its military capabilities in the fight against terrorism. He also confirmed the need to maintain the communication and cooperation with Iraq, especially with the Ministry of Defense.

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NATO commander in Iraq discusses cooperation with Iraqi Armed Forces officials - Iraqi News

14 June 2022; Baghdad, Iraq - The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Council of Ministers Secretariat (COMSEC), in partnership with the Women Empowerment Department (WED), and support from the United Kingdom, Sweden, France and Canada, organised a two-day conference to address early marriage in Iraq.

The conference, which took place on 11-12 June, recognised the alarming situation with early marriage which has increased from %21.7 to %25.5 for the past ten years in Iraq.

The event brought together government entities, local authorities, religious and tribal leaders, civil society organisations, young people, academia, and representatives of the international and donor community to discuss the root causes of early marriage, its impact and solutions to address it.

Representatives of the government of Iraq and the government of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, ambassadors, tribal and religious leaders, academia and experts shared profound evidence on the devastating consequences of early marriage on the socio-economic progress, psychological and physical health of young girls and boys, families, communities and society at large.

UNFPA Representative of Iraq, Dr Rita Columbia, said: Tribal communities and young people affected by early marriage have asked us to raise our voice and advocate more for women and girls rights and empowerment and take a step forward in addressing early marriage in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region. This event shows the criticality of reducing early marriage to fulfill the rights of girls and women, and accelerate achievement of SDGs in Iraq.

The conference participants discussed and elaborated recommendations that will be taken by the Women Empowerment Directorate under the leadership of the Secretary-General of the COMSEC to support the local authorities to reduce and prevent early marriage in Iraq.

The Early Marriage is #NotNormal also includes a social media campaign and a partnership with Rakutens Viber to promote the end of early marriage.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young persons potential is fulfilled.

For more information or media inquiries please contact: Salwa Moussa, Communications Specialist, smoussa@unfpa.org

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Government of Iraq, UNFPA organise the First National Conference to Address Early Marriage [EN/AR] - Iraq - ReliefWeb