Kataib Hezbollah-linked MP questions Al-Zaidi's wealth and advisers

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Saud Al-Saadi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah-affiliated Hoqooq parliamentary bloc, submitted parliamentary questions to Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi on Sunday over the hiring of advisers in his office, his personal wealth and alleged conflicts of interest.

Advisers

In a statement, Al-Saadi asked why the Advisers Commission's Instructions No. 1 of 2024 were issued "in violation of" the 2022 Advisers Law, which caps the number of advisers at 20. He requested the total number of advisers appointed and contracted, and asked why 69 of them had their contracts terminated under an Oct. 22 administrative order without completing financial clearance procedures.

He also sought details of their monthly salaries and bonuses and any legal action taken against them, giving the government 15 days to provide tables of terminated and serving advisers.

Wealth And Conflict Of Interest

In a second statement, Al-Saadi said he had sent simultaneous questions to Al-Zaidi and the head of the Integrity Commission on the prime minister's wealth, financial disclosure and potential conflicts of interest.

He asked how much Al-Zaidi was worth before his nomination, whether social media claims that his fortune reached 21 trillion dinars (about $13.8 billion) are accurate, and whether the commission had verified them. He also asked how many companies, business projects, universities, banks and shareholdings in Iraq and abroad are registered to Al-Zaidi, his immediate family and his brothers.

Several questions focused on Al-Owais General Trading Company and Al-Janoob Islamic Bank, whose board Al-Zaidi previously chaired. Al-Saadi asked whether Al-Owais is registered in the prime minister's name, what its capital is, and how many contracts it holds with the Trade Ministry and other state bodies, as well as how many shares Al-Zaidi owns in the bank.

He described Al-Owais's continuing Trade Ministry contracts as "a conflict of interest and a crime under the Integrity Law."

The lawmaker also asked whether Al-Zaidi had filed financial disclosure statements for himself and his family within the legal deadline, and when his business activities began and ended.

Mounting Tensions

The questions come as relations between Al-Zaidi and Kataib Hezbollah deteriorate. Talks on disarming armed factions have reached a near-deadlock, with Kataib Hezbollah among the groups refusing to give up their weapons and the factions intensifying their criticism of the prime minister.

Friction deepened after Al-Zaidi cancelled three leases at Mosul International Airport signed with companies linked to armed groups and ordered them reassigned to international firms, according to an informed source and contract documents obtained by Shafaq News. Kataib Hezbollah responded by urging the Integrity Commission to examine the finances of Hassan Al-Zaidi, the prime minister's brother, and denied controlling contracts at Iraqi airports.

A senior Kataib Hezbollah security official had earlier warned that Al-Zaidi's government would be toppled "by all means" if it failed to serve Iraqis. Al-Saadi has separately challenged the government's dinar devaluation before the Federal Supreme Court.

National Wisdom Movement leader Ammar Al-Hakim and Islamic Supreme Council leader Humam Hamoudi have begun mediating between Al-Zaidi and Kataib Hezbollah to avert a potential armed confrontation, another source familiar with the matter told Shafaq News.