Sisi, Iraqi PM to Hold Talks: Bassam Rady

By Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, March 23 (SEE) - President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is expected to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi at Ettahadiya palace on Saturday, according to Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady.

Rady added that Sisi and Mahdi will hold bilateral talks in Cairo.

“After finishing their talks, Sisi and Mahdi will hold a press conference,” the spokesperson revealed.

Mahdi is an Iraqi politician, who has been in office as Iraq’s premier since Oct., 2018.

He is also an economist and was one of the vice presidents of Iraq from 2005 to 2011. He formerly served as the Finance Minister in the Interim government and Oil Minister from 2014 to 2016.

One day earlier, the Iraqi premier requested that parliament sack Nineveh Governor Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan after a river ferry accident that killed at least 90 people in the provincial capital, Mosul.

The capsized boat, which was carrying families to a recreational spot on an island in the Tigris River on Thursday, was the most deadly incident in the northern city since it was recaptured from Islamic State in a bloody and destructive conflict in 2017.

Iraqi law gives the federal parliament the right to sack provincial governors based on the suggestion of the prime minister.

Scores of angry protesters swarmed Iraq’s president and the governor on Friday, forcing them to leave the site of the accident. The crowd threw stones and shoes at Sultan’s car, which sped off hitting two people, one of whom was taken to hospital.

Protesters blamed negligence by the local government for the accident. The boat was loaded to five times its capacity, according to a local official.

Mahdi had said on Thursday those responsible would be held accountable. Five ferry workers were arrested.