Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Haider al-Abadi was surprised of Quds Force chief Qassem Suleimani’s presence in a meeting of Iraqi officials, Asharq al-Awsat reported on Wednesday, August 26th.
Dr. al-Abadi was very surprised of Suleimani’s presence in a meeting of Iraq’s Shiite National Alliance political delegation, chaired by Ibrahim Jafari.
Former Iraqi prime minister and dismissed vice president Nouri al-Maliki, Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq chief Ammar Hakim, Badr group commander Hadi al-Ameri and a Sadrist representative were also present in this meeting.
Iran’s leader sent Suleimani to Iraq to emphasize on al-Maliki not being prosecuted and no court files being opened against him as Tehran believes such a prosecution is nothing personal; however, Tehran believes such a prosecution would mean the prosecution of Shiites in the Iraqi government.
A senior Iraqi official told Asharq al-Awsat in this session Suleimani spoke of his disapproval of al-Abadi’s reforms as a threat for Maliki. However, al-Abadi responded in strong terms and this lead to Suleimani storming out of the session.
This surprised all leaders of the Iraq National Alliance because they never thought al-Abadi would dare stand against Suleimani to a point that he would actually disrespect him.
This is the first publicized dispute and rift between al-Abadi and Suleimani.