Barrage of Rockets Hit Green Zone as Iraqi Parl Elects Abdul Latif Rashid as New Prez

Baghdad: At least nine rockets hit Iraq’s Green Zone on Thursday when the Parliament session was underway to elect the country’s new president, Al Jazeera reported. 

Several civilians and members of the security forces reported to have been wounded as the rockets landed in the highly fortified zone which houses several government buildings and foreign missions, officials said. No extremist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Taking to Twitter, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned the attack. He tweeted that “we categorically reject any attempt to obstruct the democratic process.”

في الوقت الذي ندعم استكمال الاستحقاقات الدستورية لإنهاء الأزمة السياسية، نؤكّد على توجيهاتنا لقادة الأجهزة الأمنية بضرورة تأمين الحماية الكاملة واللازمة لجلسة البرلمان، ونرفض رفضاً قاطعاً أي محاولة لعرقلة المسار الديمقراطي.

— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi مصطفى الكاظمي (@MAKadhimi) October 13, 2022

At least 269 of the 329 Iraqi lawmakers reconvened in the afternoon after quorum was reached to postpone the session.  There was no breakthrough in the first round of voting on the presidential nomination. The session was boycotted by members of parliament affiliated with powerful Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr.

As per the latest reports, the Iraqi parliament elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country’s new president. Rashid’s election to the top post has ended a year of deadlock and it will pave the way for the formation of a new government. 

Iraq’s parliament elect Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as president, reports Reuters citing lawmakers pic.twitter.com/yI1bwdA8DV

— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2022

Rashid replaced another Kurd politician Barham Saleh as head of state after the second round of voting in the parliament. He got more than 160 votes against 99 for Saleh.

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