The Militia Digest
Watan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated) reported that Coordination Framework blocs proposed protected essential-goods prices, six-month customs exemptions and a 15% tuition cut, after the cabinet approved a public dollar-selling rate of 1,520 dinars on Tuesday. The Framework rejected using the exchange rate to cover budget deficits, The New Region reported, and sought a stabilization fund financed from oil-price surpluses. Hoquq MP Miqdad al-Khafaji (KH — parliamentary bloc) objected on Thursday to replacing the currency hearing with a secret evening meeting. Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) reported MPs threatening to withhold budget approval unless the increase was reversed. On Thursday night, Prime Minister Ali Falah al-Zaidi defended the decision in parliament, while Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) carried his debt-crisis justification. On Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official), parliamentary Integrity Committee chair Taha al-Defa'i said the increase would yield 20 trillion dinars for the salary deficit. Parliamentary Economy and Trade Committee member Hamed al-Mousawi said, on Al-Ahad TV, that the Framework unanimously approved the change on condition its proposals were implemented. The government has not announced adopting the relief package.
In Kut, Al-Kornet al-Kata'ibi (KSS — affiliated) and Shabab al-Islam (Ashab al-Kahf — owned, non-official) reported residents protesting the rate increase on Thursday. Al-Ittijah reported protest gatherings in Diyala that afternoon, while Sabereen reported a Basra protest. On Friday, Al-Janoub TV (Harakat al-Jihad wal-Bina — official) reported pressure from rising dollar and fuel costs on Basra’s construction-materials market. Sabereen and Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official) published matching reports of complete car-dealership closures throughout Diwaniya governorate after the dollar rise halted buying and selling.
Separately, Shabab al-Islam relayed the Khabat organisation’s statement that two drones attacked its headquarters in Erbil on Thursday. Shabab al-Islam described the parties hit in Erbil as destructive. Sabereen and Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) alleged deaths among people they described as destructive terrorist elements. The Kurdistan Region Counter-Terrorism Service said two drones struck a camp housing Iranian Kurdish refugees in Korkosk, Khabat district, and caused no casualties.
On cabinet completion, Hamed al-Mousawi said Azm would receive two ministries and al-Zaidi would select the Migration nominee from the Christian component. He said Defence had been settled for Thabit al-Abbasi and Interior for Yaser al-Maliki. He also alleged pressure on al-Zaidi to deny Azm its ministerial entitlement. Former MP Amir al-Mamouri, through Al-Ittijah, alleged efforts to create ministries and split Culture and Tourism to satisfy political blocs.
Separately, Abdul Qader al-Karbala’i (Nujaba — military deputy) pledged continued support for Ansar Allah on Thursday and referred to meeting soon in Yemen. Al-Ahad accused the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq of joining al-Sharaa to fight Ansar Allah. Sabereen and Shabab al-Islam alleged the association had issued a fatwa requiring fighting under Saudi Arabia’s banner, but the document Shabab posted was dated 6 November 2022. Unit 10,000 celebrated a reported Yemeni missile attack on Saudi Arabia’s Buqaiq oil facility on Thursday. Shabab al-Islam relayed Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Yahya Saree’s claim of a ballistic-missile strike on King Khalid Airport in Riyadh that afternoon.