Iraqi PM Abadi sacks Basra military commander following violent protests
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday dismissed Lieutenant-General Jamil al-Shammari from his post as the Commander of Military Operations in Basra in the aftermath of violent protests that shook the oil-rich province.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday dismissed Lieutenant-General Jamil al-Shammari from his post as the Commander of Military Operations in Basra in the aftermath of violent protests that shook the oil-rich province.
Abadi’s decision came hours ahead of the parliament session scheduled to vote on Shammari’s possible dismissal.
“The prime minister ordered the Basra Operations Commander, Shammari, be demoted to the post of rector of Iraq’s Defense University for Military Studies,” Abadi’s Press Office said in a statement on Thursday.
For the past three months, people in Basra have staged protests which eventually spread to other Iraqi cities. Demonstrators demand better public services, clean water, regular electricity supply, employment, and an end to widespread corruption in Iraqi government institutions.
Abadi’s cabinet and Shammari, in particular, have been facing intense criticism after nearly 20 people were killed during the demonstrations in Basra.
Angered protesters hold local security forces responsible for the deaths of civilians, whereas the authorities blame “seditious elements and criminals” for hijacking the demonstrations to damage government buildings.
On Wednesday, Iraqi lawmakers called for the dismissal of Shammari and three other ministers in Abadi’s cabinet.
Two weeks ago, Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), a parliamentary body, announced that at least 60,000 people had been poisoned by Basra’s contaminated water.
Exports from Basra account for 95 percent of Iraq’s oil revenue. The country is the second-largest oil producer in OPEC.
Editing by Nadia Riva