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Iraq issue Trump arrest warrant

AN arrest warrant has been issued for outgoing president Donald Trump in connection with the killing of an Iranian general and a powerful Iraqi militia leader, says Iraq’s judiciary.

The warrant was issued on Thursday by a judge in Baghdad’s investigative court tasked with probing the Washington- directed drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al- Muhandis, the court’s media office said. They were killed outside the capital’s airport last January.

Al- Muhandis was the deputy leader of the state- sanctioned Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group composed of an array of militias, including Iranbacked groups, formed to fight the Islamic State group.

Gen Soleimani headed the expeditionary Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The arrest warrant was for a charge of premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty on conviction. It is unlikely to be carried out but is symbolic in the waning days of Mr Trump’s presidency.

The decision to issue the warrant “was made after the judge recorded the statements of the claimants from the family of Abu Mahdi al- Muhandis”, according to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council.

The killings sparked a diplomatic crisis and strained US- Iraq ties, drawing the ire of Shiite political politicians who passed a nonbinding resolution to pressure the government to oust foreign troops from the country.

Iran- backed groups have stepped up attacks against the US presence in Iraq, leading to threats by Washington to shut its Baghdad diplomatic mission.