Iraq Salvation and Development Front rejects PM choice for top security posts

The Iraqi Salvation and Development Front led by former Parliament Speaker Osama Nujaifi on Saturday rejected Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s decision to assign Shia figures to top security positions, Anadolu reported.

Al-Kadhimi had appointed a member of the pro-Iran Badr Shia Organisation, Qasim Al-Araji, as national security adviser and Major General Abdul Ghani Al-Asadi, the former head of the counter-terrorism agency, as head of the National Security Agency,

The Iraqi Salvation and Development Front said in a statement that while the government is reshuffling security positions and some independent bodies as part of its reform program, “we would like to remind the prime minister of the issue of national balance and the necessity for real participation of the nation’s partners in decision-making and the management of sensitive institutions”.

The statement added that “this would send messages of reassurance to everyone that there is an opportunity for real reform and that the national fabric will increase its cohesion under the new government, and there is no crisis of confidence among the partners who had contributed to Iraq’s security and stability over the past period.”

Iraq’s foreign minister: ‘Current situation in Syria is threatening our national security’