Iraq names head of intelligence as new prime minster-designate

Country beset by a number of crises - from the rise of Covid-19, a healthcare system in tatters, lack of oil revenue, and a resurgent Isis. Patrick Cockburn reports.

Iraqi President Barham Saleh nominated spy chief Mustafa Kadhemi today as the country's third prime minister-designate this year (IRAQI PRESIDENCY/AFP via Getty I)

The chief of Iraqi intelligence has been appointed Iraq’s third prime minister-designate in just over a month as the country grapples with the coronavirus epidemic, the collapse of the oil price and deteriorating security.

Mustafa al-Khadimi, 53, the head of Iraqi intelligence for the last four years, has a better chance of forming a government than his predecessors, as he is supported by Iraq’s main political players and is acceptable to both the US and Iran. He is said to have taken the job on the condition that he was backed by all the Shia political parties.

Mr al-Khadimi faces a gargantuan task because Iraq is facing multiple crises: the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in a country with a health system wrecked by war and with an economy wholly depended on oil revenues that are far less than expected.

The health ministry says that 69 people have died from the virus and 1,299 have been diagnosed with the illness, but these figures are likely to be gross underestimates because of the lack of specialist doctors and testing equipment. A curfew and quarantine are difficult to impose in cities like Baghdad and Basra, where families are often crammed together in poor housing with inadequate water supplies and sanitation.

Iraq earned only $2.9 billion from its oil exports in March which is $2 billion short of what it needs to pay state salaries and pensions. The only chance of increasing revenues is if Opec, which is meeting virtually today, agrees an unprecedented cut in crude output of up 15 million barrels a day. It has $63bn billion reserves but will be badly hit by what seems likely to be a prolonged slump in the price of crude.

A third potential crisis facing Iraq is a resurgence of Isis, taking advantage of the partial withdrawal or re-positioning of US and other foreign forces that have been aiding Iraqi security. US air support played a crucial role in defeating Isis which once held a third of the country.

Mr al-Khadimi was for many years an active member of the resistance to Saddam Hussein, spending long periods of his life in exile in Sweden and Britain. He worked as a journalist but was always a well-connected part, though an increasingly disillusioned one, of the Shia political class that took power after the overthrow of Saddam in 2003. He told The Independent in an interview in 2013 that “I feel saddened and disappointed. I have given my life to destroying the old system and have seen members of my family and friends killed. Now I watch Iraq treated like a cake to be cut up between our politicians.”

On another occasion, he said that whatever he had fought for it was not for a country in which it was possible to have somebody assassinated by paying the killers a few hundred dollars.

Despite these misgivings, he was appointed head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in June 2016, by the then Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. An unwieldy ineffective organisation when he took it over, it has since gained a reputation for professionalism, political neutrality and playing a successful role in pursuing Isis.

If he succeeds in forming a government over the next thirty days Mr al-Khadimi will replace Adil Abdul-Mahdi who is acting prime minister. His time in office was rocked by the outbreak of mass street demonstrations in October last year protesting against the lack of jobs, poor services and corruption. Violent repression by Iranian-influenced state security and paramilitary groups led to at least 700 protesters being killed and over 20,000 injured. These protests have largely come to an end for the moment but the discontent is still there.

Iraq was further destabilised by the assassination of the Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by a US drone at Baghdad airport on 3 January. Though the pandemic has diverted attention from such issues, Iraq remains the arena in which the ongoing Iran-US confrontation is being fought.

Adnan Al-Zurfi, the previous candidate to be prime minister, was unable to garner enough support from the very different political players that preside over Iraqi politics. He was seen as too pro-American by Iran and the paramilitary groups allied to Iran, eight of them issuing joint statement on 4 April 4, accusing Mr al-Zurfi of being an "American agent" and threatened MPs if they voted for his proposed cabinet.

On his appointment, Mr al-Khadimi tweeted: "with my mandate to lead the Iraqi government, I pledge to my honourable people to work to form a government that puts the aspirations and demands of Iraqis as the top priority."

Nothing is certain in the kaleidoscope of Iraqi politics, but Mr al-Khadimi stands a better chance than most in forming a government which must then cope with crises that are getting worse by the day.