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ISHM: February 3 - 10, 2022

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Key Takeaways:

  • Parliament Fails To Elect New President After Top Court Blocks Key Candidate – On February 7, Iraq’s Parliament failed to elect a new president for the country after the awaited session did not meet quorum requirements, with only 58 out of 329 lawmakers attending. Key parliamentary blocs, the Sadrists, KDP, Siyada coalition of Speaker Halbousi, and the coordination framework for Shia parties (CF) had declared their intention to boycott the meeting in advance. Precipitating the deadlock was the February 6 decision by the Supreme Federal Court to temporarily bar Hoshyar Zebari, the KDP candidate, from running for president, while the Court looks into a case filed by four members of Parliament who argue that Zebari doesn’t meet the constitutional criteria for the position. Specifically, the case cites a 2016 vote in Parliament to withdraw confidence from Zebari on charges of corruption. On February 8, Parliament decided to accept new candidacy statements from presidential hopefuls for a period of three days. CF lawmakers threatened to challenge the decision in court. In other developments, on February 7, Parliament approved a request to form a fact finding committee to investigate violence, forced disappearances, and other forms of repressions against protesters. more…
  • Maysan Assassinations Raise Fear Of More Violence; Iraqi Forces Bomb ISIS “Command Post” – On February 5, unidentified gunmen assassinated judge Ahmed Faysal al-Saidi, who deals with drugs-related crimes at the Masyan appellate court. The attack, and recurring deadly tribal clashes in Maysan, prompted the government to establish a new operations command for Maysan and sack the province’s National Security Service chief. A few days later, unidentified gunmen assassinated a fighter in Muqtada al-Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam militia in central Amara. The assassination is the latest in a series of killings that targeted members of Sadr’s militia and their rivals, Qais al-Khazali’s Asaib Ahl al-Haq. The incident raised fears of escalation in inter-militia violence, prompting Sadr and Khazali to send delegations to Maysan to contain the violence. On February 8, Iraqi F-16 jets bombed an “important ISIS command position” in Iraq’s western desert. The airstrike killed seven ISIS militants, including an individual believed to be in charge of transporting militants from Syria. In other developments, between February 6 – 10, the explosions of six IEDs and one grenade in Diwaniyah, Muthanna, Baghdad, Anbar, and Ninewa, killed at least four Iraqis, including a child. more…
  • The Omicron Wave Begins To Slow Down In Iraq – On February 10, Iraq’s Health Ministry said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 2,267,754, an increase of 34,020 from the 2,233,725 reported on February 3. Hospitalizations decreased from 79,382 to 70,253 and the daily average for new cases during the last 7-day period dropped to 4,860/day from 7,189/day during the 7-day period ending February 3. Total vaccinations reached 9,516,754 including 53,030 who received their shots on February 10. In other developments, on February 7, the EU, UNICEF, and oil company Eni launched of a new water project in Basra, involving two facilities that would pump 400 cubic meters of clean water an hour, serving approximately 350,000 Basrawis. more…
  • Baghdad Looks To Import Natural Gas From Qatar; 5 Million Passengers Moved Through Iraqi Airports In 2021 – On February 7, Iraq’s Electricity Minister met with the Qatari Minister of Petroleum and Energy in Doha to discuss the possibility of importing natural gas from Qatar to meet Iraq’s fuel needs for power generation. The Iraqi official said gas imports could potentially begin in 18 months. On February 10, Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) reported that air travel operations in Iraq’s four international airports showed significant growth in 2021. According to ICAA statistics, 63,232 departing and arriving flights carried a total of 4,908,797 passengers in 2021, up 130% and 145% from 2020, respectively. In other developments, on February 3, Iraq Oil Report wrote that the Kurdistan Regional Government had begun building a new 52″ pipeline that would bring gas from the KRG-operated fields to the Turkish border. On February 9, Iraq’s Border Crossings Commission said it had inaugurated a new system for electronic verification of customs and tax receipts to be used at Iraq’s ports of entry. more…

For more background on most of the institutions, key actors, political parties, and locations mentioned in our takeaways or in the stories that follow, see the ISHM Reference Guide.