The father of a missing Iraqi anti-government activist who waged a public campaign to bring to account a militia suspected of abducting his son was shot and killed on Wednesday, a human rights monitor said.
Jasb Hattab Aboud died of a gunshot wound to the head at 6pm in the southern city of Amara, said Ali Al Bayati, a spokesman for the semi-official Independent Human Rights Commission.
Mr Bayati and a security official said preliminary investigations were under way and that more details would be forthcoming. Authorities did not identify the culprit.
Aboud was vocal in his search for his son Ali Jasb, a lawyer and one of several activists who vanished at the height of Iraq's mass anti-government demonstrations in October 2019.
He publicly accused a powerful Iran-backed militia of kidnapping him and even took the dangerous step of seeking to take its leader to court.
Other families of missing activists were more reserved, fearing reprisal if they spoke out.
In an interview with the Associated Press last year, Aboud was asked if he was worried that his public campaign was dangerous.
"I am afraid," he said. "But I lost what was most valuable to me, so I've got nothing else to lose."
Jasb’s kidnap took just 30 seconds.
A woman emerged from a dimly lit street in the city of Amara, her face hidden in a black abaya, and greeted Jasb. Almost immediately, a black SUV pulled up, two men forced him in and sped away.
The woman climbed into a waiting pick-up truck and left.
The final sighting of the 21-year-old Jasb was captured by a surveillance camera at 6:22 pm on October 8, 2019.
Nothing has been heard from him or his captors.
Jasb came to symbolise the campaign of terror waged by militias, who are widely believed to have abducted dozens of prominent activists and to have killed more than 60.
The protests were largely silenced by a combination of the coronavirus and a violent crackdown by security forces and militias that, according to the commission, killed more than 500 people.
Aboud was a determined figure who for a time was a fixture on local media, reminding the Iraqi public about his missing son and seeking justice.
He routinely took the six-hour bus journey from his rural town to Baghdad to meet his lawyer. Always, he carried the documents that he believed would deliver justice in a court of law.
The Associated Press followed Aboud’s attempts to push a criminal case against the powerful commander of Ansar Allah Al Awfia, one of the more extreme pro-Iran militias.
The militia was incorporated under the state-sponsored umbrella group, the Popular Mobilisation Forces, created to fight ISIS in 2014.
At every turn, the criminal case revealed the weakness of Iraq’s judicial institutions vis-a-vis the growing power of militia groups.
Initial proceedings in Missan’s courts came to a standstill when testimony revealed a link between the abduction and the head of Al Awfia, local commander Haidar Al Gharawi.
Frustrated by the delay, Aboud transferred the case to Baghdad where an investigative judge deemed there was insufficient evidence to push the case forward.
Last September, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi visited Missan and met Aboud.
During the 15-minute meeting, Aboud laid out the court documents and named the militia he believed had taken his son.
He told AP that Mr Al Kadhimi was shocked. “He put his hand to his chest and promised he would deliver him to me.”
On Thursday, EU ambassador to Iraq Martin Huth posted Aboud's photo with the caption: "Pope gone. Back to normal?"
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 0
Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')
Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
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Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
2019 Asian Cup final
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
