The sidelining of a prominent Iraqi general celebrated for helping to oust militants from Mosul has generated controversy in a country caught in a tug of war between Tehran and Washington.
The Iraqi government on Friday announced that it was decommissioning Staff Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, who had served as deputy head of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), without giving a reason.
As a top commander in the service, which was created and intensively trained by the US, al-Saadi helped recapture Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group in 2017 and is considered by many Iraqis to be a national hero.
Photo: AP
On Friday, al-Saadi said he considered the shift to a post at the Iraqi Ministry of Defence as an “insult” and a “punishment.”
The decision has sparked allegations of a purge of officials seen as unfavorable to the Iraqi Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, which includes factions close to Tehran.
An Iraqi government official who requested anonymity said that pro-Iran factions within the Hashed had “personally” lobbied for al-Saadi’s removal.
“These groups were operating outside the state and the only barrier was the CTS,” the official told reporters.
“The idea is to sideline him to bring somebody close to Iran and no longer have the CTS as a check,” he said.
Political commentator Ghaleb al-Shabandar said the move was “the beginning of the Iraqi army’s dismantling and handover to the Hashed and other armed groups.”
Iraqis across the country — including in Mosul, where a statue of Saadi was erected, but never unveiled due to divisions in the city — reacted with shock to the move.
The hashtag “We are all Abdulwahab al-Saadi” began trending on Twitter, with people sharing photographs of the general aiding civilians in Mosul and cities.
“He won the people’s friendship, but the [politicians’] hatred,” one person wrote, while another said that there was “no more space for patriots in this country.”
Al-Saadi led CTS troops to recapture a string of cities from the Islamic State group — Baiji and Tikrit in 2015, followed by Fallujah and Mosul.
“While the fight against IS goes on, this decision reinforces the enemy’s morale and weakens Iraqis’ faith in their army,” military specialist Hisham al-Hashemi said.
Former Iraqi minister of defense Khaled al-Obeidi said that parliament would investigate the reasons behind the government’s decision.
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