Iraq PM paints his country’s flag upside down 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has sparked controversy on social media platforms after he appeared in photos painting the Iraqi flag upside down on kids’ faces at an Iftar feast organised for orphans in the Green Zone Palace, Baghdad.

Al-Kadhimi appeared in photos playing with children in the garden of the government palace. Social media users shared photos and videos of the prime minister painting the Iraqi flag upside down, launching a wave of criticism on social media platforms.

Iraqi Twitter activist Hamad Al-Maliki published a picture of Al-Kadhimi and captioned it: “The flag of the country has different colours; red is above and black is below. Thank you for your love for the children of your country whose flag you do not know how to paint. I pray sincerely that this picture is photoshopped, otherwise this is a scandal.”

Another Twitter user Ali Al-Kadhimi posted: “A prime minister who does not know the order of colours of the flag of the country he rules.”

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In turn, Twitter user Tayr Al-Janoub commented on the incident, writing: “What is hilariously concerning is that Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi does not know that in the flag of the country he rules. The red colour is above and the black is below!”

Al-Kadhimi’s media office published a video clip and pictures of the feast without sharing the photo that ignited the controversy.

Reports revealed that the photo was removed from the social media accounts of the prime minister’s media office.