Al-Kadhimi meets with al-Sadr in Najaf

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, met with the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, at the latter's headquarters in al-Hannana in the north of Najaf, earlier today, Thursday.

The Sadrist movement, that secured the largest tally of seats in the parliamentary election held on October 10, is engaged in meandering negotiations to form the next federal government.

Leaks from well-informed sources said that al-Kadhimi is among the figures the Sadrist movement is contemplating to lead the next cabinet.

Al-Kadhimi, arrived in the governorate of Najaf earlier today. The visit comes only two days after he accepted the resignation of Najaf's governor, Loay al-Yasiri, and assigned his first deputy Hashem al-Kar'awi to the administration of the governorate.

In an expanded meeting he held later with the heads of Najaf's government department, the Prime Minister said he will personally supervise the administration of the governorate of Najaf.

"The governorate needs special heeds for the particularity it enjoys," al-Kadhimi said, "this visit is purely administrative. It does not bear any political aspect. We came to gain first-hand information about its condition and help provide services to its residents."

"I came along with a huge Ministerial team to make swift decisions to address the problems, overcome the challenges, and help meet the governorate's needs."

"I will be supervising and following up the situation in Najaf," he continued, "we are working to establish a fund to aid developing the governorate."

"We instructed the relevant authorities to establish an independent municipality for the old city. A decree was issued to demarcate its land in order to preserve its historical value of the city and the qualifications of the head of the new municipality were set."

"The issue of unpaid lecturers in the governorate was addressed. We instructed the Ministry of Construction to solve the water and sewer problem, linking to the highway, and the pilgrimage road."

A source told Shafaq News Agency earlier this week that al-Kadhimi will not appoint a new governor of Najaf and will supervise its administration himself.

The source said that al-Kadhimi's decision does not interfere with the governance procedure and local administration. The Deputy Governor will be directly linked to al-Kadhimi.