Iraq to investigate allegations of delegations visits to Israel

The Iraqi Parliament Speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi decided on Thursday to form a committee of inquiry to investigate allegations claiming that three Iraqi delegations visited Israel in 2018.

Parliamentary sources told Arab21 news site that the committee will include members of the parliament’s security, defence and foreign relations parliamentary committees.

Meanwhile, Iraqi lawmaker, Alia Nassif whose name was among those included on the list of Iraqi citizens who had visited Israel, described including her name on the list as “paid” and “not arbitrary”.

Read: 2018 was the year when the reasons for the Iraqi uprising became clear

The Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed on Sunday that three delegations from Iraq which included 15 people, visited Israel during the last year.

The ministry said in a statement that “the third Iraqi delegation visited Israel several weeks ago” claiming “the delegations included Sunni and Shia figures as well as local influential leaders”.

Israeli analyst and academic, Eddie Cohen said on Twitter that the Iraqi government has sent the three delegations to negotiate with Israel the Iranian withdrawal from southern Syria in return for ending Israel’s bombing of Syrian territory.

هدهد سليمان: وزير مالية إسرائيل حذف العراق من قائمة الدول العدوة بناء على طلب من النواب العراقيين الذين زاروا إسرائيل وطلبوا من السلطات الإسرائيلية السماح لاقاربهم التجارة بين اسرائيل والعراق. بمعنى آخر التبادل التجاري تم طلبه من لصوص بغداد.

— إيدي كوهين אדי כהן 🇮🇱 (@EdyCohen) January 10, 2019

“The delegations also negotiated to dissolve the Shia parties in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Gulf states,” Cohen said.