Today, at the head of one of Iraq’s most powerful ministries, al-Araji laughs off questions about lingering hostility toward U.S. forces. “That’s life,” he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press, his manner boisterous and unpolished as he shuttled between meetings at a small Interior Ministry office inside Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone. In the fight for Mosul, greater coalition air and ground support for Iraq’s federal police — who fall under the command of the Interior Ministry — have allowed them to take a lead role in the city’s west. The abuses contributed to Sunni resentment of central government rule and fueled support for IS extremists in Iraq’s Sunni north and west. In the months that followed, Badr and the group’s leader Hadi al-Amiri rode the wave of those victories for political gain in Baghdad and secured de-facto control of the country’s Interior Ministry.

Source: Egypt Independent May 08, 2017 06:22 UTC