No one expected the former prime minister of Iraq Haider Al Abadi's appearance at the Sulaimani Forum last week to be controversial. He was to address the lessons he learned from his time in office and how he sees the country progressing.
Mr Al Abadi instead decided to argue against the strong evidence of the loss of civilian lives in the battle to liberate Mosul from ISIS. Despite reports of several thousand civilians killed in the 2017 battles, Mr Al Abadi insisted that only eight women and children died in the Old City.
The moderator of his session, Jane Arraf, has spent years covering Iraq and was one of the first journalists on the scene to cover the aftermath of the battle against ISIS. Despite her personal visits to Mosul morgue and seeing bodies of children beneath the rubble, Mr Al Abadi refused to accept that the actual number of deaths was any higher than eight. The exasperation of many attendees at the American University of Iraq Sulaimani was audible at his insistence.
The encounter at first appeared strange. Mr Al Abadi has a record to be proud of. He came to power in 2014, at a time when ISIS controlled or threatened a third of Iraq’s territory, distrust in the armed forces was high and sectarian tensions flaring. As commander in chief, Mr Al Abadi took it upon himself to oversee the fight against ISIS, rally the troops and push back against the sectarian rhetoric. Not only was he able to claim victory in liberating ISIS territory in 2017, but also the recognition that he brought Iraq back from the brink of absolute chaos. Iraqis rewarded him with the highest number of votes in last October’s elections. In the Sunni-majority city of Mosul, he received the largest vote, a first for a Shia-Islamist politician.
Mr Al Abadi's position is indicative of a greater attitude towards the communities who have had to fight the scourge of ISIS.
Why he would choose to argue a statistic that is impossible to uphold is difficult to understand. However, Mr Al Abadi’s position is indicative of a greater attitude towards the communities who have had to fight the scourge of ISIS. Victory is interpreted as not highlighting the challenges that remain, or accepting civilian deaths.
The problem is not limited to the fight against ISIS. There has not been a serious attempt to register the number of Iraqi civilian deaths for the past four decades of war. Calls for accurate tallies of the dead have been neglected, adding to the sense of loss experienced by the families of those killed. It remains unlikely that we will ever know the full scale of the loss of life.
The areas liberated from ISIS have gone through the hell of brutality, a devastating war, aerial bombardment, booby traps and economic destruction. Death, kidnap and intimidation threatened millions of Iraqis. Today 1.8 million Iraqis are internally displaced, while four million internally displaced persons have returned to difficult conditions. Post-liberation, expectations are for governmental support and at the least an acknowledgement of the losses that people have endured. Of course, there are bright spots, such as the expansion of civil society activism and the rise of small businesses dealing with everyday challenges. Yet those challenges are huge.
Mosul does not have one functioning general hospital. MSF facilities, small clinics and makeshift hospitals are trying to fill the gap. AFP has just published a worrying report about super-resistant bacteria plaguing emergency rooms in Mosul.
When these issues are raised, officials often say more time is needed. And yet 20 months have passed since the liberation of Mosul, Iraq’s second city.
An attempt to cover up the scale of losses in Mosul and other cities in Iraq is widespread. The unpopular governor of Mosul, Nawfal Sultan, has now banned any photography of the ruins of the Old City. The stripping of all metal from the destroyed buildings of Mosul, which Reuters reports is being handled by certain elements of the Popular Mobilisation Units to send to Iran, is difficult to document in part because of that ban.
The failure of some politicians and those in power to recognise the suffering of their own people has created a worrying gap between them. With a turnout of approximately 35% of Iraqi voters in the last elections, the legitimacy needed to claim a mandate to act is undermined.
Ali Al Baroudi, a prominent civil society activist in Mosul, was outraged after Mr Al Abadi’s statement. He confronted Mr Al Abadi privately and later spoke at a round table to express his frustration. “The people of Mosul accepted that half of their city would be destroyed to get rid of ISIS. We gave our votes to Al Abadi. And this is how we are treated,” he said.
An acknowledgement of the loss of life and the pain experienced by bereaved families is the least that can be done to enable the rebuilding of societal ties and faith in the politicians whose responsibility is to represent their people.
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Grubtech
Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi
Launched: October 2019
Employees: 50
Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V6%20and%20electric%20motor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20power%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20700hp%20at%207%2C500rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20torque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20720Nm%20at%202%2C250rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eight-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.0sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E330kph%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh1.14%20million%20(%24311%2C000)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Arsenal's pre-season fixtures
Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney
Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney
Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai
July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
THREE
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