SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Wednesday called for retribution against a perpetrator who killed the director of Karbala municipality.
Engineer Abir Saleem al-Khafaji succumbed to his injuries in a hospital in Karbala after he was shot by a man as he was supervising a campaign to remove encroachments on public streets in the al-Marnliji area in the city.
The governor of Karbala, Nasif al-Khatabi, announced earlier on Wednesday that the perpetrator had been detained.
Kadhimi accompanied by a number of officials including interior minister Othman al-Ghanimi arrived in Karbala on Wednesday morning to follow up the incident.
The premier visited the site where the official was shot, according to his office. Kadhimi faced the perpetrator after the security forces brought him there, calling for retribution against him.
Kadhimi stressed the “need for the judiciary to take its role in retribution against the murderer; to be an example to others” his office said in a tweet.
The prime minister, later, visited the family of engineer Abir in Karbala.
“We will be more severe with violators of the state and the law, and this incident will not be unnoticed,” he said, stressing that criminals would not “escape punishment”.
“We are looking for retribution and justice for everyone … because no one is above the law and we will not allow chaos,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi interior minister ordered the arrest of members of the security forces who accompanied the official when he was shot.
