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Saturday, November 30, 2019

Iraqi PM Abdul Mahdi submits resignation to parliament - Al Jazeera English

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has submitted his resignation to parliament amid ongoing anti-government protests in the capital Baghdad and in southern Iraq.

The prime minister had announced on Friday he would hand in his resignation amid mounting pressure a day after more than 40 demonstrators were killed by security forces.

The formal resignation came after an emergency cabinet session on Saturday in which ministers approved the document and the resignation of key staffers, including Abdul Mahdi's chief of staff.

Iraqi parliament is scheduled to meet on Sunday where lawmakers will vote on whether to accept Abdul Mahdi's resignation or not.

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The announcement also came after Iraq's top Shia religious leader withdrew his support for the government in a weekly sermon on Friday.

In a pre-recorded speech, Abdul Mahdi said if the parliament accepted his resignation, the cabinet would be demoted to caretaker status, unable to pass new laws and make key decisions.

Existing laws do not provide clear procedures for members of parliament to recognise Abdul Mahdi's resignation, Iraqi officials and experts said. 

How much influence does Iran wield in Iraq?

Cabinet bylaws allow the prime minister to tender his resignation to the president, but there is no specific law that dictates the course of action should this be tasked to parliament.

Al Jazeera's Simona Foltyn, reporting from Baghdad, said while Abdul Mahdi has sent his resignation letter to the parliament, it remains unclear whether in the upcoming parliamentary session lawmakers would vote on the resignation or hold a vote of no confidence.

"That is the only constitutional mechanism by which they could be voting on his resignation, which requires an absolute majority… There is still a lot of opposition inside the parliament to this resignation," she added.

Meanwhile, protestors reportedly burned tyres and surrounded a police station in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya on Saturday, a Reuters news agency witness said, pressing their demands for sweeping reforms.

Sources told Al Jazeera that 25 people were wounded during clashes in Nassiriya near the police headquarters and Zaytouna bridge.

Citing security and medical officials, the Associated Press reported that three anti-government protesters were shot dead and at least 58 others wounded on Saturday.

More than 400 people have been killed since the uprising shook Iraq on October 1, with thousands of Iraqis taking to the streets in Baghdad and the predominantly Shia south, decrying corruption, poor services, lack of jobs and calling for an end to the post-2003 political system.

Security forces have used live fire, tear gas and sound bombs to disperse crowds leading to heavy casualties. 

Iraq PM resignation would only be 'first step', protesters say

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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Iraqi PM Abdul Mahdi submits resignation to parliament - Al Jazeera English
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Maltese businessman in court as journalist murder case deepens - Reuters

VALETTA (Reuters) - A prominent Maltese businessman suspected of involvement in the killing of a journalist went to court on Friday and accused the prime minister’s right-hand man of being implicated in the plot.

People hold pictures of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia during a demonstration to demand justice over her murder, outside the Office of the Prime Minister at Auberge de Castle, in Valletta, Malta, November 29, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Yorgen Fenech, who is on police bail, also asked the court in Valetta to order the removal of Inspector Keith Arnaud, the chief investigator in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Caruana Galizia, a campaigning journalist who investigated and exposed corruption, was blown up by a car bomb in October 2017. The case has developed into a political crisis for the government of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

Lawyers for Fenech alleged that Schembri, who was Joseph Muscat’s chief of staff until he resigned on Tuesday, has for the last two years leaked secret details of the probe to Fenech.

The lawyers told the court that audio recordings seized by police proved Fenech was privy to secret blow-by-blow details of Arnaud’s inquiries.

Shaven-headed Fenech, who is currently on police bail, appeared in court flanked by his two lawyers but with no police escort, in a grey pin-striped suit and dark glasses, looking exhausted but calm.

Fenech’s lawyer Marion Camillieri said the recording were recovered from Melvin Theuma. He was granted an official pardon this week in return for testifying that he acted as the middleman in passing a contract to three people already indicted for planting the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia.

Camillieri told the court the evidence, which included a photo of Theuma in Schembri’s office, proved his involvement, despite the fact that Schembri was released on Thursday evening by police after being held since Tuesday morning.

“We are saying that although there is a lot of evidence against Keith Schembri...we have a recordings, a contract. And yet it was declared that he is no longer a person of interest,” she said.

Camilieri said Inspector Arnaud was an associate of Schembri who had briefed him constantly on the case. She said Schembri organized a job for Arnaud’s wife, an accusation denied by the Maltese government and police. 

“How can justice be done by Yorgen Fenech when we know that this person had a close relationship with the person investigating,” Camillieri said.

Responding for the government, Victoria Buttigieg said it would be damaging to suspect Arnaud who “knows the case inside out”.

His wife got no favors from Schembri and a suspect cannot dictate how an investigation is carried out. Buttigieg said.

“The dynamics of investigation are at the absolute discretion of the police,” she said.

Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech, who was arrested in connection with an investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, leaves the Courts of Justice in Valletta, Malta, November 29, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

No country allowed a suspect to choose who investigated the case. She denied Arnaud’s wife had been handpicked for a government job.

Reporters were excluded from part of the government’s case to avoid disclosure of further sensitive details. Judgment by Justice Miriam Hayman will be delivered on Monday.

Reporting by Stephen Grey, Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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'Heroic' bystanders praised for tackling London Bridge attacker - Al Jazeera English

Politicians, officials and social media users in the United Kingdom have praised the "heroism" of members of the public who tackled a knife-wielding attacker on London Bridge before armed police arrived and shot him dead.

The male attacker stabbed several people, including two fatally, during the assault on Friday that police in the British capital said they were treating as a "terrorist" attack.

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In dramatic footage widely shared on social media, a group of bystanders can be seen pinning down and disarming the attacker on the pavement, unaware he was apparently wearing an explosive device.

One video posted on social media showed two men struggling on the bridge before police pulled a man in civilian clothes off a black-clad man on the ground, with gunshots ensuing.

Another video showed a man in a suit holding a long knife that apparently had been taken from the attacker, identified by police as Usman Khan, who had been convicted of "terrorism" offences and released from jail last year.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan paid tribute to the "breathtaking heroism of members of the public who literally ran towards danger, not knowing what confronted them".

"Members of the public didn't realise at the time that was a hoax device and they really are the best of us - another example of the bravery and heroism of ordinary Londoners running towards danger, risking their own personal safety to try and save others." 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also hailed the "extraordinary bravery of those members of the public who physically intervened to protect the lives of others".

"They represent the very best of our country and I thank them on behalf of all of our country," he added.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said: "We owe a deep debt of gratitude to our police and emergency services, and the brave members of the public who put themselves in harm's way to protect others."

In a statement on Saturday, the Muslim Council of Britain also hailed the "selfless, heroic actions of the public who swiftly responded to the attack by a convicted terrorist".

Metropolitan police chief Cressida Dick said officers were called just before 2pm on Friday to Fishmongers' Hall, a conference venue at the north end of London Bridge.

On Twitter, user Amy Coop, who was at Fishmongers' Hall, praised a man who "went out to confront the attacker."

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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