Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has increasingly used
arrest warrants to intimidate and get rid of his political enemies. The latest
example occurred in March 2013 when a court ordered former Finance Minister
Rafi Issawi to be detained on terrorism charges. Issawi is from the Iraqi
National Movement, which is one of the main rivals to the prime minister’s
State of Law, and he has often criticized the prime minister’s rule. In
December 2012, some of his bodyguards were arrested, and allegedly confessed to
carrying out attacks. That led to the current protests in western, eastern, and
northern Iraq along with Issawi eventually resigning. Now the ante has been
upped as Maliki is going after the former minister himself. Rather than
actually trying to arrest Issawi it appears the warrant was a scare tactic.
On March 12, 2013, security forces stopped the former
Finance Minister. Issawi was going to a funeral of a local council head in the
Rutba district of Anbar province when he ran into group of vehicles backed by helicopters. The ex-Minister was not arrested however. Afterward, there were some reports that Issawi was attempting to flee to Jordan, and that he was
turned away because there was an arrest warrant for him on terrorism charges. That story was later proven false. The entire incident appeared to be for
show. If the government wanted to detain Issawi this was a perfect opportunity
as he was isolated, while driving through the countryside. The fake claim that he
was trying to get out of Iraq appeared to be a justification for the raid.
Overall, it was obviously meant to intimidate Issawi, to let him know that the
government knew about his movements, and could pick him up when they wanted to.
This was just the latest episode in a drawn out drama between Issawi and Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Former Finance Minister Issawi at the podium before
protesters in Anbar (Al-Mada)
The current dispute between the two has its origins in the
arrest of several of Issawi’s bodyguards. In December 2012, some of the Finance Minister’s security detail was picked up in Baghdad on terrorism charges. A
spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council told the media that the head of Issawi’s bodyguards had confessed to involvement in attacks, while a member
of the premier’s State of Law list said that twenty families in Anbar had filed lawsuits against members of the minister’s security unit. Later, state-run
Iraqiya TV aired a confession of one of Issawi’s guards claiming that he
received orders from the minister’s son-in-law to carry out assassinations. Immediately afterward, protests sprang up in Anbar, Baghdad, and other
provinces in support of Issawi, which continue to this day. Issawi then started
boycotting session of the cabinet, which led to Maliki replacing him temporarily with Planning Minister Ali Yousef Abdul-Nabi of the Sadr Trend in
February. The next month, Issawi announced his resignation in front of a
huge crowd of demonstrators in Ramadi, Anbar. Iraqiya TV reported that the
prime minister did not accept his resignation, because he was being
investigated for corruption. This mirrored the arrest of Vice President Tariq
Hashemi’s guards in December 2011, which led to a warrant for him, and his
eventual self-imposed exile in Turkey. Perhaps Maliki was hoping for that
series of events to be repeated with Issawi.
In fact, during the Hashemi affair, Issawi was temporarily
targeted as well. On December 15, 2011, security forces surrounded both Hashemi and Issawi’s residences in Baghdad’s Green Zone. Then the pair was forced
off a plane at Baghdad airport for a planned meeting with Kurdistan President
Massoud Barzani. This all resulted from the arrest of several of the vice
president’s guards who confessed on television to carrying out attacks and
murders in Anbar. One connected their operations through a number of officials to Issawi. The government then said that it would investigate the Finance Minister, which led to some of his bodyguards to be arrested as well. Hashemi eventually left the country, but nothing came of the charges against
Issawi. Perhaps going after the vice president was enough for Maliki at that
time. Either way, it set the stage for the current situation where Issawi has
again been charged with involvement in terrorism, and members of his security
unit being detained.
Even previous to the Hashemi incident, Maliki had brought up
accusations against Issawi. In the middle of 2010 for example, the prime minister told the U.S. military he was worried about Issawi’s connections to militants. Then commander of U.S. forces in Iraq General Ray Odierno sent
a letter to the premier telling him that American intelligence had looked into the
matter and found nothing. Then in September, there was a report that while
Maliki was attempting to put together a new ruling coalition after
parliamentary elections, he threatened to charge Issawi with terrorism if he didn’t join the new government. All of the stories revolving around Issawi
stem from the fact that he is from Fallujah, and worked there while it was a
base for Al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups. Almost every party in
Iraq has been involved with violence, so it is no surprise that there are
accusations against Issawi. The problem is that in the current political
environment nothing ever happens about these reports, because all of the
country’s leaders could be implicated, especially if any were ever to go to
court. What Maliki has done is to selectively use these accusations against his
opponents. Hashemi was a perfect and public example. The current crisis with
Issawi is another.
It seems unlikely that Prime Minister Maliki really wants to
arrest Issawi and put him on trial. That could lead to a series of unexpected
consequences. Rather it appears that the arrest of his guards, and the warrant
out for him are just a way to keep him off the national scene, and perhaps
force him into exile like Vice President Hashemi. The problem for the premier
is that Issawi has not completely followed this script. While he has resigned,
Issawi has remained in the public eye through involvement with the protest
movement in Anbar that sprung up to support him. He is also trying to campaign for
his party in that province before this year’s provincial elections. That could
lead to further acts of intimidation. Then again, Maliki might be happy with
just gaining influence over the Finance Ministry. This is a very important
post, because all government spending has to go through it and the Planning
Ministry, which are now controlled by the same person, Sadrist Ali Yousef
Abdul-Nabi who is allied with the premier. This is the prime minister’s
ultimate goal to trim down the government to just those that support him
instead of the unwieldy national unity coalitions. Rather than taking
democratic means to achieve that however, Maliki has too often used the
security forces, which has all kinds of negative consequences for the future of
Iraqi politics.
SOURCES
Dar Addustour, “Maliki calls for parliament to withdraw
confidence from the al-Mutlaq – Government waited and proclamation of the
results revealed the involvement of senior political terrorist operations,”
12/18/11
Adnan, Duraid and Arango, Tim, “Arrest of a Sunni Minister’s
Bodyguards Prompts Protests in Iraq,” New York Times, 12/21/12
AIN, “Breaking News … Maliki orders to arrest security force
responsible for arresting Esawi’s guards,” 12/21/12
- “Defense Committee: number of Esawi’s guards, released,”
12/21/12
- “Esawi not involved in criminal actions according to
primary investigations, says MP,” 12/22/12
- “IS suspends its ministers from CoM’s meetings,” 12/22/12
- “MP: Foreign guarantees behind return of Iraqiya Slate to
parliament,” 1/31/12
- “Mutleg calls IS to suspend from current government,”
12/21/12
- “SLC MP demands Esawi to resign,” 12/26/12
Aliraqnews, “Sadr’s office: Planning Minister receives the
functions of the Ministry of Finance Acting,” 2/5/13
Alsumaria, “An informed source disclosed agreement to
resolve the issue individuals protect Issawi conveyed investigation committee
headed by Atta,” 12/22/12
- “Maliki appoints acting ministers replacing Iraqiya
ministers,” 1/5/12
Associated Press, “Iraq finance minister says staff members
kidnapped,” 12/20/12
Aswat al-Iraq, “Kurdish Alliance denounces intruding
Issawi’s offices,” 12/22/12
Dodge, Toby, “Iraq: Maliki power grab risks fresh civil
war,” International Institute for Strategic Studies, 4/20/12
- “The resistible rise of Nuri al-Maliki,” Open Democracy,
3/22/12
Fordham, Alice, “Iraq’s finance minister quits amid huge
protest,” The National, 3/2/13
Gordon, Michael, “Tensions Rise in Baghdad With Raid on
Official,” New York Times, 12/20/12
Gutman, Roy, “As US troops exit Iraq, Maliki moves against
Sunni rivals,” McClatchy Newspapers, 12/19/11
Healy, Jack and Gordon, Michael, “A Moderate Official at
Risk in a Fracturing Iraq,” New York Times, 12/30/11
Institute for the Study of War, “Warrant for Iraq VP
Hashemi’s Arrest and Coerced Confessions,” 12/19/11
Al-Jawari, Fulaih, “Cracks in Iraqiya begin to open,” AK
News, 1/8/12
Knights, Michael, “Iraq’s Political Crisis: Challenges for
U.S. Policy,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 12/21/11
Al-Mada, “Power of the Prime Minister’s Office arrested
facilities Rafie al-Issawi,” 12/20/12
Mardini, Ramzy, “Iraq’s First Post-Withdrawal Crisis,”
Institute for the Study of War, 12/19/11
National Iraqi News Agency, “Anbar Cleric Council demanding
to declare civil disobedience,” 12/22/12
- “Anbar Provincial Council: Hashemi scenario repeated with
Issawi,” 12/21/12
- “BREAKING NEWS Obama makes a call to Essawi in response to
the arrest of Essawi’s head of his guards,” 12/20/12
- “Iraqiya coalition suspends its attending in the
Parliament,” 12/23/12
Radio Nawa, “Bayraktar: an arrest warrant for official
protection Issawi was issued some time ago but he was on the run,” 12/22/12
Al Rafidayn, “Alfalh: 20 families of Anbar filed lawsuits
against al-Issawi and protection elements Hashemi,” 12/22/12
Salaheddin, Sinan and Schreck, Adam, “Iraq confirms arrest
of minister’s bodyguards,” Associated Press, 12/21/12
Schreck, Adam and Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, “Iraq: New Protests
Break out in Sunni Stronghold,” Associated Press, 12/26/12
Shafaq News, “Salahuddin calls its masses to demonstrate
peacefully to express their demands,” 12/31/12
Sotaliraq, “Government circulated judicial arrest warrant
Rafie al-Issawi on all security institutions and internal checkpoints and
border,” 3/14/13
Sowell, Kirk, “Inside Iraqi Politics No. 30,” 1/3/12
- “Inside Iraqi Politics No. 40,” 6/20/12
Sullivan, Marisa Cochrane, “Iraq’s Post-Withdrawal Crisis,
Update 2,” Institute for the Study of War, 12/23/11
Tawfeeq, Mohammed, “Report: Bodyguards for Iraqi finance
minister arrested,” CNN, 12/21/12
Al-Tayyeb, Mouhammed, “Government to investigate Issawi’s
alleged support for terrorism,” AK News, 12/22/11
Van Wilgenburg, Wladimir, “Iraqi Government Will Possible
Arrest More Sunni Leaders,” Transnational Middle-East Observer, 12/22/11
Wicken, Stephen, “2013 Iraq Update #9: Issawi resignation
presents opportunities to Maliki,” Institute for the Study of War, 3/1/13
- “2013 Iraq Update #10a: Maliki Pursues Issawi – Again,”
Institute for the Study of War, 3/13/13
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