RIYADH: Iraq’s prime minister was not hurt after an assassination attempt using a drone at his residence early Sunday.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi tweeted that he was fine after the incident, which injured more than five others.

Al-Kadhimi, who has been moved to a secure location, called for calm and restraint for the sake of Iraq, and backed security forces to ensure the safety of the nation and uphold the law.

Security forces were dealing with the aftermath of the attack, which involved a single drone, according to Al Arabiya, who also broadcast clips of what sounded like gunfire from Baghdad.

The home of the prime minister is inside the city’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

Al-Kadhimi on Friday ordered the formation of a committee to investigate clashes between Iraqi security forces and supporters of parties that are disputing the results of a general election in October.

One protester was killed and around 100 injured after hundreds of pro-Iran Hashed Al-Shaabi supporters rallied in Baghdad near the Green Zone throwing projectiles and blocking access before being dispersed by security forces.

Pro-Iran groups said that live rounds were used against protesters, but the health ministry denied the claims.

Voters turned their backs on the previously powerful Fatah Alliance, reducing their number of seats in parliament from 48 to no more than 14.

The alliance comprises candidates from Hashed Al-Shaabi, who finished second in the last elections in 2018 in what was viewed as evidence of Tehran’s growing influence.

That triggered a backlash in October 2019, when hundreds of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in “Tishreen” protests against corruption, unemployment and foreign influence. Security forces and the Hashed Al-Shaabi militia killed about 600 in a violent crackdown.

ISTANBUL: An indictment which aims to ban Turkey’s Democratic Peoples’ Party, known as HDP, was prepared for political reasons and should be thrown out, an HDP official said on Saturday, a day after it submitted an initial defense to Turkey’s top court.
Turkey’s Constitutional Court accepted the indictment against the pro-Kurdish HDP in June.
The measure calls for the party to be shut down over alleged ties to militants.
But the HDP denies any such ties and describes the case as a “political operation.”
The case, brought by prosecutors at the Court of Cassation, follows a years-long crackdown on the HDP, in which thousands of its members have been tried on mainly terrorism-related charges.
The party submitted its initial defense to the Constitutional Court on Friday.
Umit Dede, a deputy chair of the HDP, told reporters on Saturday the initial defense did not address each allegation individually but sought to highlight procedural issues.
“This case was prepared as a result of the pressure put on the chief prosecutors of the Court of Cassation by the ruling party and its partners. Therefore, in our defense we presented this matter to the attention of the Constitutional Court with evidence,” Dede said.
The party will address allegations individually after the prosecutor submits his analysis to the court, but the case should be thrown out before that, Dede said.
Turkey has a long history of shutting down political parties, including pro-Kurdish ones.
Critics say its judiciary is subject to political influence, a claim denied by the ruling AK Party and its nationalist MHP allies.
Court of Cassation chief prosecutor Bekir Sahin said in the indictment that the HDP acts together with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, and aims to break the unity of the state.
The HDP is Turkey’s third-largest party, with 55 seats in the 600-member parliament.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and EU.
It has fought an insurgency since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

BAGHDAD: Hundreds of supporters of pro-Iranian factions staged a fresh demonstration on Saturday in the Iraqi capital over last month’s election results, a day after at least one protester was killed in a clash with police.

The demonstrations come while Iraq’s numerous political parties negotiate to form coalitions and name a new prime minister after the Oct. 10 elections.
Preliminary results saw the Conquest (Fatah) Alliance, the political arm of the pro-Iran multiparty Hashd Al-Shaabi paramilitary network, suffer a substantial decline in its parliamentary seats.
The group’s supporters have denounced the outcome as “fraud” and Iraqi political analyst Ihsan Al-Shamari said the pro-Hashd protests are aimed at strengthening its negotiating position during the coalition bargaining process.
In a calm atmosphere a day after deadly tensions, Hashd supporters gathered at one of the four entrances to the high-security Green Zone, which is home to government buildings and the US Embassy.
The protesters had brought in tents and sanitary facilities, in a sign of a possible repeat of a sit-in that began on Oct. 19.
Others burned a portrait of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, whom they called a “criminal.”
On Friday, there were clashes with police when hundreds of Hashd supporters rallied near the Green Zone to vent their fury over the election result.
Demonstrators threw projectiles and blocked access to the Green Zone before they were pushed back by police who fired in the air, a security source said.
Another security source said a protester died in hospital of his wounds, while the Health Ministry reported 125 injuries, most of them from the security forces.
A leader of the Hezbollah Brigades, one of Hashd’s most powerful factions, said on Friday that two demonstrators were killed.
On Saturday, mourners in the city of Najaf carried two coffins of Hashd supporters they said died in the Baghdad clashes.
According to preliminary tallies, the Conquest won around 15 of the 329 seats in parliament, down from 48 it held previously, which made it the second-largest bloc.
The big winner this time, with more than 70 seats according to the initial count, was the movement of Moqtada Sadr, a preacher who campaigned as a nationalist and critic of Iran.
Final election results are expected within weeks.

BEIRUT: The families of those arrested in the Tayouneh violence that occurred on Oct. 14, along with the families of those arrested in the Khalde incident that took place in early August, are up in arms over what they allege are the “biased actions” of the judicial authorities.

The families have in recent days been reacting angrily about the lack of arrests of anyone associated with Hezbollah regarding either incident, “although the party and its gunmen were clearly involved in both.”

The families are questioning whether the Lebanese military judiciary is turning a blind eye on those involved in the violence, or if the institution was shaken by the pressure Hezbollah exerts on every aspect of the state.

Clashes had erupted in Khalde, south of Beirut, between Hezbollah members and residents affiliated to Arab tribes known as the “Arabs of Khalde,” during the funeral of Hezbollah official Ali Shibli. Two people died and several civilians were injured as a result.

The first acting military investigative judge, Judge Fadi Sawan, issued an indictment for the Khalde incident two days ago, referring 32 defendants, including 23 detainees from the Arabs of Khalde, to the military court for trial.

However, he disregarded all Hezbollah affiliates who were involved in the clashes.

Sawan requested that the defendants be tried for “forming an armed group with the intent of committing crimes against people, murder, attempted murder, inciting sectarian strife, vandalism and the use of unlicensed war weapons.”

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said that what happened in Khalde was “attempted murder, this massacre was committed by a gang.”

He demanded that “all those involved, whose faces and names are well-known, be held accountable.”

The families reacted strongly to Nasrallah’s narrative, asking him to “double-check his sources before slandering the Arab tribes.”

The families of those arrested in the Khalde incident blocked the Khalde highway on Friday in protest against “focusing only on the tribes and leaving Hezbollah out of it.”

They expressed anger toward the military court’s biased actions, since “21 young men from Khalde are yet to be released, while not a single Hezbollah affiliate, whose names and addresses the security services know, has yet been detained.”

Future Movement MP Rola Al-Tabash said: “The Arab tribes will not be a scapegoat. Why weren’t the gunmen who attacked the tribes in their homes arrested?”

He added: “The judiciary stood against the oppressed, and with the armed oppressor, right under the state’s nose.”

Meanwhile, no indictment has yet been issued regarding the Tayouneh incident, which left seven dead and 32 injured.

The defense team of the detainees, most of whom are affiliated to the Lebanese Forces, submitted a complaint before the military prosecution that includes “photos and videos documenting the armed individuals who participated in the clashes but were not summoned for interrogation.”

However, the military prosecution “did not decide on the complaint,” according to the defense team, “and none of the mentioned individuals were summoned, and they are members of the Resistance Brigades, a faction affiliated with Hezbollah.”

In the wake of the Tayouneh incident, Nasrallah publicly accused the Lebanese Forces of starting the clashes and demanded that the party’s leadership be held accountable.

Consequently, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea was summoned to testify before Lebanese army intelligence, but he did not comply.

The families of the detainees have been protesting in front of the military court. Antoine Saad, an attorney representing the detainees, said: “Ain Al-Remmaneh will not be a scapegoat.”

The lawyer added: “The judge is not treating all parties involved in the incident fairly. What was announced about the investigations contradicts what happened in reality.”

The former head of the State Shoura Council, Judge Shukri Sader, told Arab News: “Many have complained about the military court that is handling the cases of the Tayouneh and Khalde incidents. It is believed to be an island that operates on its own and that the Supreme Judicial Council has no control over it. Is it permissible to try the victim and exclude the perpetrators?”

He added: “The judiciary in Lebanon is a mess; the parties and the legislative and executive authorities are always exerting pressure on it. What is happening in the Beirut port blast probe is proof.”

Sader said the judicial investigator “has been prevented from questioning defendants, particularly political and security officials. Many have attempted to remove him from the case and illegally get their hands on the confidential investigations.”

Sader noted: “It is clear that many are trying to influence and pressure the military judiciary.

“To prevent what is happening, the military judiciary’s powers must be limited to only trying military personnel.

“Using the ‘terrorist acts’ pretext is abuse. The Tayouneh and Khalde incidents were not acts of terrorism, but a group of thugs roaming the streets, which is the product of warlords controlling the state.

“These people do not want a state of law, but rather a farm; a farm that has infiltrated the judiciary.”

Former Minister Ahmed Fatfat said that he is not surprised by the military judiciary avoiding arresting Hezbollah militants.

“Hezbollah has taken all state institutions hostage, including the military judiciary, and is trying to take over the civil judiciary as well. But civil judges are speaking up, namely Judge Tarek Bitar, who is leading the investigation into the Beirut port blast,” he told Arab News.

Fatfat added: “This has been happening for a long time. Have we forgotten about the pilot officer, Samer Hanna, who was killed in 2008 while his helicopter was flying over an area where Hezbollah was stationed in Sejoud? At the time, Hezbollah sent a man with a hand disability to the military court and said that he was the one who shot down the helicopter.

“This man later admitted that he was legally mandated by Hezbollah to say that he did it. The case was closed there and then, and Hezbollah was never held accountable.”

He noted: “Some Lebanese parties refuse to admit that Lebanon is under Iranian occupation.

“As long as these parties provide cover for Hezbollah by sharing power, nothing will change. Hezbollah controls the country, but it does not bear responsibility.

“People criticize the government and the president and do not realize that Hezbollah is the source of the crisis.”

Fatfat stressed: “We should let Hezbollah rule alone and bear the responsibility.

“We should all join the political opposition against it and only then will Hezbollah’s true colors be revealed.

“I don’t know why the Free Patriotic Movement and even Prime Minister Najib Mikati are clinging to power.

“What for? I don’t believe they fear another vacuum because the government is already disrupted by a Hezbollah decision.”

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen government troops pushed back Houthi attacks and scored limited advances in contested areas south and west of the central province of Marib, local sources and media reports said on Saturday.

Fighting broke out on Friday when the Houthis attacked troops on hilly terrain overlooking the Al-Amud area, south of Marib, and around a strategic road that links the central city of Marib with Juba district.

With the help of the Arab coalition, the troops and allied tribesmen repelled the assault and later attacked the retreating Houthi forces.

By Saturday afternoon, government troops announced the liberation of small locations and villages in Juba after killing and wounding dozens of Houthis.

Yemen’s Defense Ministry said coalition warplanes had carried out many airstrikes, targeting Houthi gatherings and military equipment.

In the west, heavy clashes also broke out when troops repelled Houthi attacks in Serwah district.

The current round of fighting started in February, when the Houthis resumed an offensive to seize control of the energy-rich city of Marib, the government’s remaining bastion in the northern half of the country.

Despite the deaths of hundreds of civilians and suffering heavy casualties in Marib province, the Houthis have ignored local and international calls for de-escalation and instead intensified their ground attacks and shelling of government-controlled areas.

Army commanders and senior government officials in Marib have vowed to keep fighting the militia and foil its attempts to undermine security in the city.

On Saturday, the Marib Security Committee, chaired by Governor Sultan Al-Aradah, thanked the Arab coalition for its “unlimited” military logistics and air support to government forces battling the Houthis outside the city, ordering local security and military units to remain on high alert to counter their attacks.

Al-Aradah said the coalition’s airstrikes had supported troops, destroyed the Houthis’ military reinforcements, and neutralized their military capabilities on the battlefield.  

The government has accused the Houthis of increasing their indoctrination and recruitment of children in areas under their control and of sending them to fight troops.

“(The) Houthi militia intensified recruitment of children under 18 to compensate (for) its depleting fighters, due to unprecedented losses it incurred since its escalation on Marib fronts, in the widest crimes of recruiting children in combat operations in the history of humanity,” Yemen’s Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani tweeted.