Iraqi PM approves decision to refer commanders to face trial over Ramadi withdrawal

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday approved decisions of an investigative council that include referring a number of military commanders to a court martial over withdrawing from their positions in a battle against Islamic State (IS) militants in Anbar's provincial capital city of Ramadi.

In a statement issued on his official Facebook page and broadcast by the state-run Iraqiya television, the investigation council heard testimonies of over 100 of military commanders, officers and soldiers and issued a report presenting a summary of what happened and how Ramadi, some 110 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and the surrounding areas fell in the hands of IS group in mid-May.

The report also included recommendations to develop the performance of the military units making use of the mistakes, the statement said.

Abadi's approval came as he pushes ahead with comprehensive reform plan aimed at combating corruption and mismanagement under the pressure of massive demonstrations by angry Iraqis in Baghdad and several other cities in the south to protest against slack public services, power shortage, and massive corruption.

The demonstrations were also backed the call of Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who asked Abadi to be "more daring and courageous in his reforms."

The rapid retreat of the security forces and the fall of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province, was seen as a setback to Abadi's efforts to defeat the IS group in the Sunni heartland of Anbar province and then his effort to free the IS-held city of Mosul in the north. Endit