Baghdad

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EXCLUSIVE: FAI RESPONDS TO CORONAVIRUS IN IRAQI KURDISTAN

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FAI Rawanduz Gateway Center leader Nathan James (far right) joins local mullahs in a joint prayer and training meeting to address the threat of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Wire is receiving encouraging reports from FAI field teams near Rawanduz, Iraqi Kurdistan this weekend, as FAI medical staff and gateway leaders have been engaging with patients and local communities around the Iranian frontier to address the threat of coronavirus across the border. FAI has maintained a presence in Rawanduz and the Soran Valley for over four years now, positioning the organization to be a reliable and trustworthy resource for Kurdish officials and residents.

Dr. Jessica is an FAI field team member who has been working directly with a group of over 200 patients who have been quarantined at different facilities in eastern Kurdistan after they crossed the border from Iran. She reports that, although many of the patients are presenting symptoms related to cold, flu and hypertension, there are no suspected cases of coronavirus so far. Nonetheless, FAI medical teams are taking full advantage of the opportunity to treat, encourage and pray with quarantine patients during an anguishing time of isolation, separated from their family and friends. FAI field team member David spoke with a young man who has been unable to sleep well for a year. After praying over the young man, Dr. David spoke a word of encouragement to him, promising that he would have a good night’s sleep. The young man reported the next morning that he had slept soundly for 12 hours, after which he serenaded FAI staff and fellow patients in the clinic with his violin.

CLICK HERE TO HELP FAI CONFRONT CORONAVIRUS

FAI field teams working in and around the Rawanduz Gateway Center (near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan) are providing training and treatment programs to quarantine patients and needy communities which are under-served and highly vulnerable to coronavirus. This is a critical and timely effort with unique opportunities. Will you partner with us?

FAI field team leader Nathan James has been working with Rawanduz-based staff to coordinate training initiatives in border communities that are threatened by coronavirus. In a video dispatch published yesterday, he describes the unprecedented opportunity he had to lead a joint-prayer and training session with 16-18 local mullahs. Muslim leaders have direct contact and influence with the people in their communities, and can pass along the training they receive to their congregants at Friday prayer meetings. Nathan requested and was granted the privilege of praying before the group with the aid of a translator, in which he prayed life and unity over the clerics gathered there. “Today was a very unique day”, Nathan said after the event, “I’ve never had this opportunity before. I’ve never heard of anyone having this opportunity before.” Nathan reported that some mullahs in the group approached him after the training to thank him for opening the meeting with prayer.

FAI will continue to seize every opportunity to assist local Kurdish communities with addressing the coronavirus outbreak in the region, including initiatives to train religious leaders, government officials, and even local police. These initiatives become even more critical as newly-confirmed cases of the deadly disease are being reported in nearby Kirkuk, which is presently controlled by the central Iraqi government. At least 8 cases have also been confirmed in the southern city of Najaf, as Iraq continues to experience the fallout of the coronavirus epidemic in neighboring Iran, where the disease was allowed to spread unchecked for several weeks due to malfeasance by the Iranian government.

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ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS ESCALATE IN SOUTHERN IRAQ—AT LEAST FIVE KILLED

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Iraqi Defense Minister declares state of emergency, and calls on Iraqi security forces to be "on high alert."

Thousands protest in Baghdad due to governmental failure to provide basic services.

Demonstrations began on Tuesday October 1, loosely organized on social media and began with a peaceful gathering of some 1,000 people, mainly university students, who marched into Baghdad's central Tahrir Square. However, things took a turn for the worse when police used water cannons, stun grenades, and tear gas to disperse the small crowds. Reports emerged of live ammunition being used by police in the cities of Baghdad and Najaf, rather than deterring protesters, caused larger turnout as numbers swelled to several thousand and the protests spread to other cities in southern Iraq.

Iraq’s government blames “groups of riot inciters” as being responsible for the violence on the streets of Baghdad, while saying that they uphold the right of Iraqis to peacefully protest.

At the time of publication, Iraqi authorities have imposed a curfew in the cities of Nasiriyah, Amara and Hilla in the south of the country, as well as cutting internet access across the entire southern region. While reports of civilian casualties vary, many are reporting between 5 and 10 deaths and over 200 injuries. This is the worst civil violence seen in years in Iraq’s capital.

It is possible this round of protests had their origins in an incident where Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, a popular army commander and head of the Counter Terrorism Service, was dismissed last Friday September 27, 2019. He is regarded by many Iraqis to be a military giant after defeating the Islamic State in the nine-month siege of Mosul that ended in 2017. The general public’s displeasure at this decision and subsequent protests put Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi under considerable pressure and conceivably led to him making the rash decision to use undue force with protesters of the last few days. Perhaps the Prime Minister was also thinking of his predecessor Haider al-Abadi, whose inability to cope with the protests in Basra last year lost him his office.

In addition to the dismissal of this popular general by the nationalist Prime Minister, the same grievances from protests past—rampant corruption in the government, unemployment, inability to provide basic services, and Iranian interventionism, to name a few—have become the rallying point for the protesters. According to the World Bank, the country has a high youth unemployment of around 25%. Iraq ranks as the 12th most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International. The state of Iran also has had considerable influence in Iraq since sending in the IRGC and Shia Militias to fight the Islamic State, but now is intent on keeping a Shia-led government in power in Iraq, and is sending in reinforcements to aid police and security forces in controlling the protests.

Tweet below shows protesters burning the provincial building in the province of Maysan.

Photo: Protesters in Baghdad are repelled by water cannons, stun grenades, and tear gas. (Xinhua and K. Dawood, Picture Alliance).

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49909774

https://www.dw.com/en/iraq-anti-government-protests-leave-two-dead-hundreds-wounded/a-50668567

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/f59a5b69-94e4-42e9-aa72-c7fe3d3d71a0

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/baghdad-protests-today-iraq-tahrir-shooting-death-toll-corruption-unemployment-a9128506.html