Iraq says no info about threats against Saudi envoy

By Ali Jawwad

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AA) - Iraqi authorities have denied any information referring to threats on the life of Saudi ambassador Thamer Al-Sabhan.

“Diplomatic missions in Iraq are fully secured whether at the level of persons or buildings,” Saad Maan, a spokesman for Baghdad operations command, said in a televised statement late Sunday.

He said the Saudi embassy in Baghdad “has not notified the Iraqi security agencies of any information that the ambassador’s movement in Baghdad was exposed to danger”.

On Sunday, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that Iran was plotting to assassinate Al-Sabhan.

Citing informed sources, the newspaper alleged that Iraqi Shia militias have three plots to kill the Saudi diplomat and that these militias were directly linked to Iran.

The newspaper named Khorasan Battalions militia and another movement that works with Ous al-Khafaji, the Secretary-General of Abu Fadl al-Abbas Forces, as among groups that were plotting to kill the ambassador.

There was no comment from the militias on the alleged plots.

On Saturday, Al-Sabhan accused Iran of being behind “terrorism in the region”.

Maan called on the Arab media “to seek the real sources” for news and warned of attempts to “undermine the security situation and confuse public opinion in an attempt to undermine” the capabilities of Iraqi security agencies.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when Daesh captured the northern city of Mosul and overran large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country.