BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – A senior Iraqi lawmaker says his political coalition is in possession of intelligence showing Britain’s “continued interference” in the Arab country’s political affairs.
Hadi al-Ameri, the head of the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance in Iraq’s parliament made the remarks in a meeting with UK Ambassador to Baghdad Mark Bryson-Richardson.
“From 2003 until now, the Iraqi political process has been based on the three main pillars of consensus, participation and balance,” al-Forat News quoted Ameri as saying during the meeting.
“We have information from foreign intelligence agencies that confirms your continued interference in the political situation,” he told the UK envoy. “We believe that the stability of Iraq is the stability of the region, and everyone must [work to] eliminate political obstructions for the sake of regional stability.”
He also warned that political instability would cause unstable security in Iraq, whose parliament has failed to elect a new president months after a general election.
“We want the Shias to reach an understanding with each other, and this will certainly lead to an understanding between the Kurds...The Shia Coordination Framework will never retreat from forming a larger faction that protects the rights of the Shias in the cabinet, and reaching a consensus on a candidate for the premiership,” Ameri added.
The British ambassador, for his part, said that London’s effort to develop bilateral relations with Baghdad requires the establishment of a government in Iraq.
Iraqi parliamentary elections were held last October, the fifth in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of the Arab country in 2003.
They were originally planned to be held in 2022, but the date was brought forward in the wake of a mass protest movement that broke out in 2019 to call for economic reforms, better public services, and an effective fight against unemployment and corruption in state institutions.