The U.S. Treasury Department said it has added the commander of Iraq’s Al Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) organization Faleh al-Fayadh to its sanctions list.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement distributed Friday that sanctions against this Iraqi leader are linked to human rights violations.
“Faleh al-Fayadh” said in his speech on Friday commemorating the first anniversary of the martyrs Soleimani and Al-Muhandis in the city of Basra in southern Iraq: “The main response to the evil crime of the United States in killing the commanders of the victory operation over the IS terrorist group is the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq.”
It is unacceptable that the killers of the two commanders and our sons continued to stay in Iraq, the commander of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi underlined, adding that Trump, who ordered this evil crime, has himself become a disgrace to his own people.
He had said in a recent speech, “Al-Hashd Al-Shabi emerged from the Iraqi people and will always remain loyal to the Iraqi people and those who have their legitimate demands.” Al-Hashd Al-Shabi, he said, is not a tool of oppression or a tool in the hands of an oppressor or corrupt, but rather an instrument to spread peace and stability in the country.
The commander of Al-Hashd Al-Shabi warned against conspiracies to tarnish the image of these forces. He further said in this regard, Al-Hashd Al-Shabi fighters are the guardians of the Iraqi people, will remain loyal to them and fight against those who want to overthrow the country.
On Friday evening, Al-Hashd Al-Shabi’s Information Center also reacted to the U.S. government’s move to sanction the organization’s commander. In this regard, it wrote on Twitter on Friday evening, “Congratulations to the friend of the martyrs, Professor Faleh Al-Fayadh, the head of Al-Hashd Al-Shabi, who joined the great figures that the US government considers an enemy.”
by Basit Abbasi – FN