Iraq Crisis: Former PM Audio Leaks Anger Religious Leader

Despite being away from power for several years, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has made headlines over the last few hours following a number of leaked audio recordings that were attributed to him, in which he allegedly makes strong attacks against prominent pro-Iran religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr. 

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The audio leaks that have stirred much debate in Iraq have been preserved as dangerous ones that might interrupt the country's hardly stable political scene, especially since it features major political plans that could turn into violent clashes between followers of both political leaders. 

In the five audio excerpts leaked accounting for nearly 15 minutes of conversation, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is believed to criticize the Shia scholar, politician, and militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who has been leading the Sadrist Movement in recent years.

Nouri al-Maliki was the third and longest-serving Prime Minister of Iraq following the US invasion and the toppling of Saddam Hussien in 2003.

Among statements that have driven major reactions in Iraq was Nouri al-Maliki's description of Muqtada al-Sadr as "a bloodthirsty murderer" who is "spiteful". "He is also a coward who robbed the whole country", Nouri al-Maliki adds.

Pledging to not "keep the Shia and Iraq in the hands of Moqtada al-Sadr", the Shia politician claims that his country "is on the verge of a devastating war from which no one will survive except by defeating Muqtada al-Sadr and his political allies".

In the yet-to-be-verified leaks, Nouri al-Maliki continues his attack on Moqtada al-Sadr calling him "a murderer, how many did he kill in Baghdad? The kidnappings, the car bombings. He is not a master, he is a coward, a traitor, an ignorant who knows nothing".

In response, Nouri al-Maliki's office released an official statement on the 13th of July 2022 invalidating the audio leaks and claiming it was "fabricated using audio technologies to stir political unrest in Iraq".

As a result of the audio leaks, supporters of religious leader Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets calling on the former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to "surrender himself", pointing at boiling political tension in the country. 

Videos shared on social media also showed supporters of al-Sadr as they set offices of Nouri al-Maliki's Islamic Call political party on fire in Baghdad's Sadr City.

Translation: "Burning the office of Islamic Call party in Baghdad's Sadr City by the youth of the Popular Mobilization Forces after Nouri al-Maliki described them as cowards."

Online, thousands of tweets used the hashtag #سلم_نفسك_نوري (surrender, Nouri), demanding legal consequences against the prominent politician.

In response to growing protests, Moqtada al-Sadr's spokesman Muhammed Salih Al-Iraqi called on al-Sadr's followers to end protests, a move that did not help calm the situation amid calls for Moqtada al-Sadr to personally address his supporters. 

Audio leaks were posted online by US-based Iraqi activist and journalist Ali Fadhil who established the US-Iraqi Anti-Corruption Foundation.

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Ali Fadhil pledged that Nouri al-Maliki audio leaks are only "the beginning of a series of leaks through which he will expose Iraqi corrupt politicians", whom he accused of "destroying the country".

Ali Fadhil described Nouri al-Maliki leaks as ones from a secret meeting with his allies to discuss their plan to start their campaign. Fadhil also promised to release the content of the nearly 1-hour meeting later on.