'Give up', former Iraqi PM is told

'Give up', former Iraqi PM is told
Hakim al-Zamili, a leading Iraqi figure in the Sadrist Movement and head of the Security Committee, has called on Nouri al-Maliki to surrender himself to justice.
2 min read
29 October, 2015
Former Prime Minsiter Nouri al-Maliki has been blamed for the fall of Mosul [Getty]
The head of the Security and Defence Committee in the Iraqi parliament, Hakim al-Zamili, has called on former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to give himself up to justice on charges of corruption and causing Mosul to fall into the hands of the Islamic State group.

Zamili, one of the leading figures in Muqtada al-Sadr's influential movement, said that the report into the fall of Mosul was "sent to prime minister, parliament speaker, the Supreme Judicial Council, prosecutor general, minister of defence and minister of interior, who were supposed to take action".

Zamili said that the prosecutor-general told him that part of the case would be transferred to the Integrity Committee and the other to judicial courts.

"We are waiting for the courts to begin procedures in two weeks," he added.

A parliamentary report held 36 politicians and military officials - including Maliki - responsible for the fall of Mosul in June 2014, when the Iraqi army collapsed and IS took control of swathes of the country's territories.

Zamili warned that no one would be able to "cover up this sensitive and important issue".

Maliki continues to reject his sacking as vice-president, and is supported by a number of militias.

Zamili called on Maliki to "give himself up to the Iraqi judiciary to decide on his innocence or guilt, as his period [in power] led to corruption, bad management, a weak state, chaos, and the occupation of different Iraqi cities by [IS]".

Zamili's message is significant, as it is the first time a heavyweight political figure has issued such a statement.