Shafaq News- Baghdad

A Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) official, Abbas al-Yaqoubi, on Wednesday vowed to file a lawsuit against the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, claiming he had been imprisoned on “malicious” charges brought by the agency.

In his first public appearance following his release, al-Yaqoubi, the intelligence director for Baghdad Belt Operations Command, accused US Ambassador Tom Barrack of planning “a series of crises,” alleging that Barrack had gained control over Iraq’s national decision-making and was seeking to push the country toward internal fighting. “But the wisdom of our officials and leaders, and their unity, thwarted those plans,” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, an informed source told Shafaq News that the Baghdad/Al-Karkh Criminal Court had acquitted al-Yaqoubi of the charges against him. The source said the ruling followed consideration of the allegations, including claims that al-Yaqoubi was involved in the 2021 assassination of Colonel Nibras Farman Shaaban al-Fayli, director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service office in Baghdad’s Rusafa district. Al-Fayli was killed in an armed attack in 2021.

The PMF said in a statement that the Iraqi judiciary had dismissed all charges against al-Yaqoubi and fully acquitted him, and that the legal proceedings against him were also canceled.