Mosul faces political crisis after governor dismissed
An arrest warrant has been issued for the governor of Ninevah province, of which Mosul is the capital, following a ferry accident that killed nearly 100 people.
The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council issued an official order to the Erbil Appeals Court on April 8 to implement an arrest warrant for the former governor of Ninevah province, Nawfal al-Akoub. A conflict over the post of governor ensued in the city of Mosul, which is at the heart of Ninevah province.
The Iraqi parliament voted March 24 to dismiss Gov. Akoub from his post after a ferry accident in Mosul killed nearly 100 civilians. An arrest warrant was promptly issued for Akoub.
Nevertheless, Akoub has not been arrested, although authorities in the Kurdistan Region have already arrested others implicated in the ferry accident. Tareq Nuri, the head of the Erbil Asayish, or security forces, said that his directorate is waiting for the arrest warrant to be delivered from the Ninevah courts to Erbil.
With the goal of warding off a power vacuum in Ninevah, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi set up a crisis management cell March 22 to run the province’s affairs.
