AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The leader of Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, which is part of the country's Popular Mobilization Forces or Hashd al-Sha’abi, says Washington and Tel Aviv are members of "a third party" that has been behind many deaths during the recent unrest.
Qais al-Khazali told Dijlah TV, an Amman-based Iraqi satellite television channel, on Saturday that the committee set up to investigate the violence is merely an administrative body, and thus cannot identify the “third party” responsible for the killing of demonstrators.
He stressed that “Israel and US have a great role in the third party."
Khazali further said the probe into the deaths in Iraq should not be restricted to the question of who killed the protesters, but also examine who “eased” the way for the killers and who gave them order.
At the start of October, street protests erupted in several Iraqi cities over unemployment and a lack of basic services.
The rallies resumed on October 25 after a pause of about two weeks, but took a violent turn, with some participants vandalizing public property and opening fire on demonstrators during the mayhem.
Over 300 people have been killed in the Iraq unrest since October 1, according to the Iraqi parliament's human rights commission.
Earlier this month, Iraqi Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari told France 24's Arabic-language channel that a “third party” is behind shooting at the Iraqi demonstrators.
"The Iraqi national security forces are not the ones who are killing the protesters,” Shammari said. “There is a third party killing the protesters to push protesters to clash with security forces to spread instability in Iraq.”
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24 November 2019 - 13:01
News ID: 988955
The leader of Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, which is part of the country's Popular Mobilization Forces or Hashd al-Sha’abi, says Washington and Tel Aviv are members of "a third party" that has been behind many deaths during the recent unrest.
