Italian Oil Company fires employee for insulting Iraqi figures

Shafaq News/ The Italian company SICIM, operating in Iraq's oil sector, announced on Monday the dismissal of one of its Italian employees following an incident of "disrespect" towards Iraqi figures.

In a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, the company said, "We would like to inform all our dear Iraqi brothers that the director of security for S SICIM's Iraq branch, along with the company's management, has taken appropriate measures and terminated the services of Mirko, an Italian national."

"Over the past 12 years in Iraq, we have categorically rejected any insult to any symbol of Iraq and any insult to any Iraqi employee under any circumstances. Consequently, the employee has been expelled from the site and Iraq permanently." The statement clarified.

Social media pages reported that an Italian named Mirko had used offensive language and insults against Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis after seeing the Popular Mobilization Forces commander's picture on one of the company's rented vehicles.

Al-Muhandis is a prominent Iraqi figure who was killed by a US strike in 2020 with the Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.