Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr sent a delegation to the southern city of Maysan on Thursday to quell tensions after the assassination of one of his followers there.
Karar Abu Ragheef, a supporter of Mr Al Sadr, was killed in the southern province by unknown gunmen late on Wednesday, triggering concerns between political religious leaders.
The province has followers of Mr Al Sadr’s Saraya Al Salam militia as well as those of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, one of the factions of the Hashed Al Shaabi, which is led by Qais Al Khazaali.
The Hashed was founded in 2014 to fight ISIS alongside Iraqi forces but its factions have since been ordered to incorporate into the state security services.
Abu Ragheef’s assassination was the third in the province in recent weeks.
“I’m sending a high level delegation to calm the strife fuelled by politics between the followers of Saraya Al Salam and the Asa’ib,” Mr Al Sadr said in a statement published on the Iraqi news agency.
“Our supporters must prevent bloodshed. In the event that one of the parties does not respond, I will let the law take its course. Let everyone abstain from violence and harm,” said the cleric, who has millions of followers.
Mr Al Sadr called for calm after the killing of Abu Ragheef and said it was politically motivated at putting pressure on officials to form the next government.
The development follows the visit of Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi to Maysan on Wednesday after the killing of two officials this week.
Gunmen assassinated a judge who specialised in drug cases and an interior ministry official.
“We are going through complicated political circumstances,” Mr Al Kadhimi told a group of provincial security officials on his arrival in the area.
“No one is allowed to exploit this situation to create chaos during this important period of time," he said.
Judge Ahmed Faisal Khasaf was driving home in his car in the provincial capital of Amara when assailants blocked his route and shot him 15 times with a Kalashnikov.
He died at the scene.
A few days later the interior ministry official was killed, pushing Mr Al Kadhimi to seek justice.
“I will follow up with the joint security command in the province on a daily basis. All criminals will be arrested and handed to the judiciary,” he said.
The province has an increasingly alarming drug problem and is riven with tribal disputes.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
