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AFP
Arbil
Iraqi Kurdish authorities said Monday they had issued arrest warrants for 11 Iraqis including leaders in a powerful paramilitary group, in an apparent tit-for-tat move after Baghdad took similar measures.
The moves come amid brewing tensions between Baghdad and the Kurds, who last month held an independence vote in defiance of the federal government.
The prosecution in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan said in a statement it had issued the warrants for 11 people and asked a court in regional capital Arbil to take legal steps to pursue the matter.
Among those targeted is Qais al Khazali, founder and leader of Asaib Ahl al Haq, an Iran-backed Shiite militia that is one of the main components of the Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitary group. Also facing an arrest warrant issued by the Kurds are Rayan al Kaldani, the head of a Christian militia that fights in the ranks of the Hashed, and Shiite lawmaker Hanan al-Fatlawi. It was not immediately clear why they were wanted.
Tensions have been high between Arbil and Baghdad since the Kurds organised an independence vote on September 25, which Iraq's supreme court deemed unconstitutional.
