Who is "Abu Ali al-Askari" Shiite leader with the controversial tweets?

Shafaq News / "Abu Ali Al-Askari" account on Twitter has emerged greatly recently, especially after he accused the head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, Mustafa al-Kathemi  of participating in planning the killing of General Qassem Soleimani and the leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Al-Askari is known as the "security official for the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades", which is loyal to Iran.

However, the American Alhurra TV says that "the real name of Al-Askari is Hussein Moaines, who is a member of the Shura Council of the Hezbollah Brigades, and works as a security and military adviser in this militia."

Alhurra added that " Moaines uses a dynamic name because he is a security leader, and his mission is to deliver threatening messages to officials and to reveal specific intelligence information to the public when needed."

Although al-Askari is a spokesman for the Brigades, "he never appeared in the media with this title, but he appeared under the title of Public Relations Officer in the Brigades, and he nicknamed himself Abu Musa."

On Tuesday, Twitter blocked Abu Ali Al-Askari account for violating the terms of publication on the platform.

Through this account, Al-Askari threatened the President of the Republic, the Speaker of Parliament in Iraq, the Iraqi counter-terrorism agency, and collaborators with the American forces, the American forces themselves, and even President Trump.

But the account was closed hours after threatening the head of the Iraqi intelligence service.

After that, a source early Tuesday reported that the Iraqi intelligence launched a campaign of arrests of leaders of the Iraqi "Hezbollah" faction known for its pro-Iranian support.

"The Iraqi National Intelligence Service is launching a campaign of arrests with judicial orders against outlaws from Hezbollah Brigades who threatened Iraqis with assassination and murder," a source told Shafaq News.

The source added, "Until now, about 5 leaders of this unofficial group, which does not belong to the Popular Mobilization Forces, have been arrested."

Abu Ali al-Askari had tweeted on Monday, in which he said, "Some are deliberating Al-Kathemi's candidacy for the position of Prime Minister, and he is accused of helping the American enemy to carry out the assassination of the victory leaders Soleimani and his fellow Al-Muhandis."

Al-Askari considered Al-Kathimi's candidacy for prime minister a declaration of war on the Iraqi people, and would burn the rest of the country's security.

These statements angered the intelligence service, which was considered in a statement, on Tuesday, that the accusations were "false" and "offensive" to al-Kathemi and members of the security services, threatening to sue Al-Askari.

Al-Kathemi is one of the names that are being circulated in the country to head the next Iraqi government, since the resignation of the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi in early December, under the pressure of unprecedented protests against the ruling political class.

Iraqi "Hezbollah" brigades, which receive training and funding from Iran, are accused by Washington of being behind the missile attacks that have been targeting the American embassy in Baghdad and Iraqi military bases hosting American soldiers throughout the country for months.

The brigades are also accused of being behind the assassination of activists and protesters in the protests.