Intelligence chief occupies the Iraqi street .. Who is Mustafa Al-Kazemi?

Salah Hassan Baban - Erbil

The name of the head of the Iraqi intelligence service, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, has again returned to the political scene by force to form the new government, as a substitute for the commissioner Adnan Al-Zarfi, after news of his intention to apologize in forming the new government in the country.

Al-Kazemi's name remained on the table for the presidency of the government during the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi, who was forced to present it at the beginning of last December, under the pressure of the popular protests that the country has been witnessing since last October.

What raises the question is the mystery of adhering to and presenting this character among a group of names proposed to form the government despite the presence of more qualified and experienced personalities.

Al-Kazemi’s name increased in the political corridors to form the government after the President of the Republic Barham Salih refused to assign any candidate belonging to political parties, including the current governor of Basra, Asaad Al-Eidani, coinciding with the Sadrist movement’s offering three names to head the government at the end of last year, including Al-Kazemi.

Who is Mustafa Al-Kazemi?

Al-Kazimi, born in Baghdad in 1967, holds a BA in law, and left the country in 1985 through Iraqi Kurdistan to Iran, then Germany, then Britain, he spent many years of his life outside Iraq opposed to the regime of the late President Saddam Hussein, and he does not hold another nationality despite being accused of being calculated On Washington.

Al-Kazemi worked as a columnist and editor-in-chief for the Iraq section of the US "Monitor", focusing his articles on social peace files in Iraq, and uncovering many of the failures that accompanied the experience of the Iraqi political system after 2003.

Al-Kazemi managed from Baghdad and London the "Humanitarian Dialogue", an independent organization that seeks to bridge gaps between societies and cultures and establish dialogue instead of violence in resolving crises through cooperation that cuts geographical and social boundaries.

Al-Kazemi worked as editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine, which was issued by a Kurdish institution in the city of Sulaymaniyah, followed by Barham Salih (the current president of the republic) during the years 2010-2011. He also published several books during his career, most notably “the question of Iraq .. reconciliation between the past and the future.” .

Al-Kazemi has a number of media professionals, journalists, and media institutions that strongly promote him and present his name from time to time, including an Iraqi media organization based in Iraqi Kurdistan.

And the highest position held by Al-Kazemi so far is the presidency of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service since 2016 during the Islamic State’s control of large parts of Iraq.

And political blocs, especially Shiite ones, accused Al-Kazemi of his strong relationship with the Americans, which stood in the way of his candidacy for the post of prime minister after the resignation of Abdul-Mahdi, a charge that Adnan al-Zarfi, who holds American citizenship, faced, and the two were close to the current president.

Al-Kazimi's candidacy comes after major disagreements within the Shiite political house over the candidate for prime minister.

Two days ago, Shiite forces decided to nominate Al-Kazemi in an attempt to prevent Al-Zarfi from obtaining the required support, and it seems that she succeeded in soliciting the Kurds and Sunnah, which confused the scene and raised the chances of Al-Kazemi, as Kurdish Kurdish journalist Saman Noah sees, and told Al-Jazeera Net that Al-Kazemi is considered a moderate Shi’ite and not Partisan and has balanced relations with everyone.

With the first hours of publishing leaks about the possibility of Al-Zarfi’s apology for forming the government and assigning Al-Kazemi to replace him, the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, welcomed Al-Kazemi’s candidacy, calling on everyone to support him.

Noah comments on the Kurdish position by saying, the statement of the presidency of the region was strange and hasty, but the Kurdish and Sunni forces, after a near-consensus within the Shiite house, found that it is necessary to support Al-Kazemi in order not to find themselves in a narrow angle, for the Shiite agreement means practically passing the prime minister regardless of the position The Kurds and Sunnis, they have a sufficient majority to pass in parliament.

For its part, Al-Baghdadiya journalist Hanaa Riyad talks about the secret behind Al-Kazimi's candidacy more than once to head the government by saying that he possesses charisma and has popular acceptance and is not yet involved in public corruption cases, considering in her talk to Al-Jazeera Net that the lack of blocs and political parties of personalities has acceptance in the street, In addition to the ambiguity in the personality of Al-Kazemi himself, he is the reason for his re-nomination more than once.

And on the reason for the Shiite house's emphasis on the nomination of Al-Kazemi, said Riyad - who is one of the active journalists in support of the protest demonstrations that Iraq has been witnessing for months - that "the Shiite blocs are concerned about the policy of al-Zorfi, which seems to intend to deal according to one distance from everyone and present the interest of Iraq before anything Another, in addition to that it does not have freedom of opinion because it is a defendant of Iran's will, whether we admit it or not. "

Consistent with the Kurds, the Iraqi Forces Alliance, which includes many Sunni representatives led by Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi, announced his support for what he described as the compatibility of Shiite political blocs on the nomination of Al-Kazemi, attributing the reason to his interest that the candidate for prime minister be accepted and supported by the political component responsible for Nomination, and to be accepted at the national level.

Among the secrets that increased Al-Kazemi’s chances is the Shi’ite’s lack of agreement on a specific candidate, according to the deputy of the Alliance of Forces, Victory Al-Jubouri, assuring Al-Jazeera Net that the Shi’ite forces have agreed on Al-Kazemi’s personality and this is what drives the Alliance of Forces to respect this position.

For her part, Nada Shaker, a member of the victory coalition, criticized the Sunni and Kurdish stance on supporting Al-Kazemi after Al-Zarfi completed his government approach and delivered it to Parliament. She told Al-Jazeera Net that Al-Kazemi’s nomination at the expense of Al-Zarfi at this time is a violation of the constitution.

Al-Zarfi was toppled

The al-Hikma movement, led by Ammar al-Hakim, supports al-Kazemi to form the government more than al-Zorfi, according to the representative of the current Asaad al-Murshidi, while Al-Hazira Net revealed a scenario by some political forces “loyal to regional states” to topple al-Zarfi through al-Kazemi.

He adds that these forces can not overthrow Al-Zarfi except through Al-Kazemi, because Al-Zarfi can pass within Parliament towards forming a government, but it will soon be turned on the second also by not allowing his formation to pass within the parliament dome.

This attempt, according to al-Murshidi, comes to ensure that Adel Abdul Mahdi remains in power until elections are held, because these forces have achieved significant political gains through him.