A simple incident in the city of Najaf, the sacred place for Shia around the world, has opened a conflict between the two parties in power in the local governorate and the central Iraqi government. In a strange coincidence, a beggar child managed to evade all controls, watchdogs, scanners and cameras and sneaked into the city airport trying to board a plane.
The incident may have been a simple technical or safety error. One could also accept the official version of the airport administration, according to which the intruder was able to evade the controls precisely because he was young, mingling with the crowd of travelers. But an investigative commission arrived in Najaf from the capital Baghdad to determine the circumstances of this breach of security protocols at the city airport.
Clash over management contracts
The incident, in fact, is part of a clash between parties over the renewal of contracts for the management of security at Iraqi airports, and in particular that of Najaf.
In Baghdad, the government has already contracted out the management of the airport to a British company. In January 2020, a US drone launched attacks near the airport of the capital in which the commander of the Iranian forces Al Quds, Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head of the people’s mobilization forces, Abu Mahdi al Muhandis were killed. Since that moment, an exchange of mutual accusations has begun between the ruling parties to establish who is responsible for ensuring airport security. Furthermore, the political confrontation is set against the backdrop of a more extensive conflict, that between the United States and the United Kingdom on the one hand, and Iran and its militias on the other.
Every month thousands of pilgrims, mainly from Iran, pass through the Najaf airport to visit the sacred city of the Shiites, where, among other things, there is the shrine dedicated to Imam Ali, the cousin of the Prophet Mohammed. Outside the control of the central government, the Najaf airport is a source of funding for the two parties in the district. But the accident of the child who managed to evade the controls could be used by the Baghdad government and by the opposing parties as a pretext to denounce the ineptitude of those who have managed security so far and to regain control of the airport in the south of the country.
(Translateione by Francesco De Lellis)