As the final days of the holy month of Ramadan approached, Muqtada al-Sadr busied himself with preparations for his annual itikaf, a period of reflection to be spent in the great mosque of Kufa. To those around him, it seemed clear he was trying to divert his attention away from events in the world outside the walls of his home in central Najaf’s Hanana. It has been almost a year […]
Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council has issued arrest warrants for 20 people accused of involvement in a blast that killed 18 people in the Baghdad stronghold of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose bloc won an election marred by fraud allegations, state TV reported. Nationalist Sadr and Iranian-backed paramilitary chief Hadi al-Amiri, who won first and second place respectively in the May vote, announced on Tuesday an alliance between their blocs. Security and […]
Iraq's parliament has ordered a full recount of the country's recent parliamentary election that resulted in a shock victory for Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. The country's outgoing 328-seat parliament voted in favour of a manual recount of all 11 million ballots from the May 12 poll in response to charges of electoral fraud. MPs also sacked a nine-member independent electoral commission that oversaw the process and replaced the body with […]
While final results for Iraq's parliamentary election expected on Monday, preliminary figures point towards the two main Shia lists as the leading contenders. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's list appears to be in the lead, followed by influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's alliance, an election commission source and a security official told Reuters news agency on Sunday. Commenting on the preliminary results, Ibrahim Marashi, associate professor at the Department of History, […]
At least five protesters and two policeman have been killed in the Iraqi capital during a rally by thousands calling for an overhaul of the electoral system, according to police. Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at thousands of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, an influential Shia leader, who were demonstrating on Saturday near Baghdad's Green Zone to press for electoral changes. At least 320 protesters and seven […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
