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Iraq mourns renowned terrorism expert killed by gunmen

Iraqi demonstrators attend a symbolic funeral for slain Iraqi jihadism expert Hisham al-Hashemi - AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
Iraqi demonstrators attend a symbolic funeral for slain Iraqi jihadism expert Hisham al-Hashemi - AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

A leading Iraqi security analyst and critic of rogue Iran-backed militias was gunned down outside his Baghdad home on Monday, in an assassination that could test the government’s resolve to rein in armed groups.

Hisham al-Hashimi, 47, was fatally shot by gunmen on motorcycles in the Zeyouneh neighbourhood of Baghdad on Monday evening, security footage showed, in a crime condemned by Iraq’s new premier, who knew Hashimi personally.

“We will not allow assassinations to return to Iraq,” Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said on Twitter, where Hashimi’s name was trending locally.

An informal adviser to Mr Kadhimi and formerly to the anti-Islamic State coalition, Hashimi was widely cited in western media, including The Telegraph. He authored several books on jihadist groups and worked with international think tanks, including the Center for Global Policy in Washington, DC.

As many Iraqi Twitter users changed their avatars to Hashimi’s picture, footage showed a funeral procession carrying his coffin draped in an Iraqi flag.

British ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey offered condolences, calling Hashimi a “thoughtful and brave man”.

“The government - supported by the international community - must hold the perpetrators to account,” Mr Hickey wrote on Twitter.

Hashimi previously received death threats from Islamic State for his reporting on the Sunni extremist group, but recently told friends he feared assassination from rogue militias, who he said posed a risk to the state.

Iraq’s formal paramilitary organisation, which is dominated by Iran-backed groups, called for an investigation into Hashimi’s death.

There was no claim of responsibility but many Iraqis suspected militiamen.  “Everyone in Iraq knows who did it,” AlHurra News correspondent Steven Nabil wrote on Twitter, accusing “Iranian-backed militias”  .

Since taking office in May, Mr Kadhimi has vowed to rein in militias and protect western diplomatic and military facilities from attack from Iran-backed groups, whose strength threatens the government’s relationship with the United States and other western states.

Last month, Mr Kadhimi ordered a raid against militiamen accused of planning an attack on Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Iraqi security forces arrested 14 members of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States. All but one were soon released though, in what was seen as capitulation by the government. Video showed the freed militiamen celebrating by stamping on pictures of Mr Kadhimi.

In January, the United States struck a blow to Kataib Hizbollah by killing its leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, alongside Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike outside Baghdad airport.

The strike prompted an outcry, with Iraq’s parliament voting to demand US troops leave Iraq.

On Monday, a United Nations human rights investigator said the strike was illegal under international law. The United States failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent attack against its interests to justify the strike, said UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Agnes Callamard.