Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi says the killers of prominent journalist and commentator Hisham Al Hashimi have been arrested.
Mr Al Kadhimi said on Friday the arrests by security forces had come after warrants were issued to detain the men.
Reports in Iraq said a gang of four men who reportedly carried out the attack had been taken into custody.
State television said one suspect, Ahmed Hamdawi Owayid Kinani, who worked in the Ministry of Interior, confessed to the killing.
Mr Kinani is reported to have shot Al Hashimi using his officially licensed gun.
State TV broadcast brief clips of the apparent confession of the 36-year-old police lieutenant.
Wearing a brown jumpsuit, Mr Kinani confessed to shooting Al Hashimi dead using his pistol. Surveillance footage of the attack showed the men carrying out the killing while riding two motorcycles.
Friday's announcement marks the first reported arrests made over a murder that shocked the country, where killings of activists have surged over the past year.
Al Hashimi was killed outside his Baghdad home on July 6 last year. He left behind his wife, three sons and a daughter.
His killing sparked widespread outrage and protesters took to the streets to demand justice and accountability for his death.
Experts said Friday's announcement was an important development in a case that highlighted issues over factions having impunity to assassinate opponents.
“The government announced the arrest of the killers of Hisham Al Hashimi, without indicating their number,” Raed Al Hamid, a researcher of armed groups in Iraq, told The National.
“The information we have is that the killers are seven people, including an officer with the rank of first lieutenant in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. This officer has links with the militias.
“It is well known that the Ministry of Interior is always part of the political quota share of the Badr Organisation [an Iraqi Shiite political party and military organisation], but this does not mean that the officer belongs to this organisation,”
The murdered security expert was one of Iraq's most prominent researchers on the country's extremist movements, providing crucial insights into the operations of ISIS and Shiite militia groups.
He was also a supporter of the country's anti-corruption protest movement.
Large-scale demonstrations erupted in Iraq in late 2019, with tens of thousands rallying against government corruption and a lack of basic services and employment opportunities.
After the mass protests, many activists and prominent thinkers like Al Hashimi were killed. The government has been heavily criticised for not acting on these crimes.
A member of the Iraqi Human Rights Commission, Ali Al Bayati, told The National that the development was significant.
“Arresting Hisham Al Hashimi's killers is a positive step towards establishing accountability and ending impunity, but what is most important is to declare the motives of the crime, as it is an unusual crime targeting a public figure and researcher,” he said.
“Other cases of violence in the protests should be brought to justice and hold all perpetrators accountable.”
Al Hashimi had been outspoken against powerful armed groups aligned with Iran. This infuriated Tehran-backed Shiite factions in Iraq's Hashed Al Shaabi grouping of state-recognised militias.
“Al Kadhimi could not name the groups behind it, despite knowing them well,” Mr Al Hamid said.
“I knew Al Hashimi well, and in the last meeting before his assassination, he was talking about threats coming to him from several militia sides.
“He was thinking of moving either to Turkey or to the Kurdistan region, looking for a safe place and to avoid death.”
At the end of May, the government arrested militia leader Qassem Musleh on suspicion of being behind several high-profile assassinations of activists and protesters.
He was later released by the judiciary due to lack of evidence.
“The judiciary did not succumb to any pressure in the case of Qassem Musleh,” a spokesman for Iraq's judiciary has said.
“The evidence is insufficient to convict him, as he was released after being acquitted of the accusation against him of killing protesters, including Ihab Al Wazni,” he said.
“Musleh was not in Iraq at the time of the crime and for this reason he was released.”
Al Wazni was a prominent anti-government campaigner, known as the “Hero of Karbala”, and was killed in the central city by unknown gunmen in May.
* With reporting from Azhar Al-Rubaie in Iraq
Opening Premier League fixtures, August 14
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
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'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
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Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
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10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
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Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
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"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
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