Parliamentary bloc calls for summoning US Ambassador in Iraq and issuing protest note
Shafaq News / The "Huquq" parliamentary bloc demanded on Wednesday the summoning of the US Ambassador to Iraq and handing her a memorandum of protest regarding the bombing of the al-Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF) camps and the internationalization of the assassination of the former deputy head of the PMF Authority, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
The bloc's head, Saud al-Saadi, directed several parliamentary inquiries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urging it to explain the reasons for the Ministry's failure to summon the US Ambassador in Baghdad and hand her an official protest memorandum over the repeated violation of Iraq's sovereignty, evidenced by the bombing of PMF headquarters in Babil on Tuesday, resulting in numerous casualties and injuries.
Al-Saadi inquired about "the international and legal actions taken by you before the United Nations and international forums regarding the violation of Iraqi sovereignty by US forces concerning the assassination crime of the head of the PMF Authority and Iraq's guests on January 3, 2020."
He stressed the need for "a statement on the final results of the efforts and measures taken by your ministry regarding the internationalization of the Baghdad airport crime committed by US forces in 2020."
Furthermore, yesterday, Tuesday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden directed airstrikes on three sites affiliated with Hezbollah Brigades and its affiliated groups in Iraq in response to the attack that targeted a military base in Erbil, resulting in injuries to three American soldiers.
According to a White House statement, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed President Biden on the incident in a phone call on Monday afternoon, presenting multiple options to the President, who ordered the strikes during that call.
Moreover, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced this morning that US forces carried out strikes on three facilities used by "Hezbollah Brigades" and its affiliated groups in Iraq.
The Iraqi government condemned on Tuesday the US airstrikes that targeted the headquarters of factions aligned with the PMF, resulting in the death of one member and the injury of 18 others, including civilians, in response to the attack that targeted a military base in the city of Erbil, causing casualties among US army ranks.
On January 3, 2020, an American drone targeted a convoy carrying the head of the PMF Authority, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and Quds Force Commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Qasem Soleimani, leading to their deaths along with those accompanying them.
