(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira - The commander of the largest Shiite militia in Iraq - the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) - is Jamal al-Ibrahim, known as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Abu Mahdi is a former colleague of Hizbullah leader Imad Mughniyah and a protege of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force. Abu Mahdi escaped from a Kuwaiti prison in 1990 after he was convicted and sentenced to death for bomb attacks on the American and French Embassies in Kuwait that killed five people. Incredibly, he was elected to the Iraqi parliament in 2005 as a member of the Shiite governing coalition. When his involvement in the Kuwaiti bombing became known, Abu Mahdi fled to Iran. Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei has said that the PMF is an "important and blessed phenomenon" that will have an important role in ruling Iraq after the defeat of the Islamic State. Thus, Iran has virtually won control over Iraq, a key segment of the "Shiite arc" land route from Tehran, through Iraq and Syria, to southern Lebanon and the Mediterranean. The writer, a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center, served as Military Secretary to the Prime Minister and as Israel Foreign Ministry Chief of Staff.
2017-07-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive