Iraq Envoy to Lebanon Dismissed After Photos Go Viral
BAGHDAD (MEMO) – Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein has dismissed the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Haider Shaya al-Barrak after photos of him using an RPG7 rocket launcher during a hunting trip went viral on social media. Iraqi media outlets published a decree issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed by Hussein ordering the recall of Ambassador al-Barrak from the Iraqi embassy in Lebanon to Baghdad. Senior Iraqi diplomatic sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Iraqi embassy will now be managed by the consul for the time being. Iraqi and Lebanese social media users criticized the former ambassador’s use of weapons in violation of his duties as a diplomat.