The police chief, Ghanim Abbas Al-Qoreishi, is alleged to have masterminded a wave of killings and kidnappings and has links to murderous militia groups active in the Province of Diyala.
The police chief, Ghanim Abbas Al-Qoreishi, is alleged to have masterminded a wave of killings and kidnappings and has links to murderous militia groups active in the Province of Diyala.
Arabic language daily Azzaman said, "The resurgence
of armed groups is blamed on the province’s police forces and their chief Abbas who residents say are implicated in killings, murder and kidnapping innocent people."
"Abbas is nicknamed by Diyala residents as Safah Diyala or ‘the Diyala butcher’ and many of the protesters asked U.S. troops to have him tried before an international tribunal for his ‘crimes’," said the daily and adding, "Provincial officials and security officers, speaking on strict condition of anonymity, said Abbas is even implicated in raping incidents of women in the province."
Dr. Saleh Mutlak, leader of the Iraqi National Dialog Front, in an interview with Aljazeera TV said that Ghanim Abbas is linked to Badr militia forces that are involved in illegal displacement of local residents and detention of people in the Diyala province.
An Iraqi commander of an army unit fighting against militias affiliated with the terrorist Iranian Qods Force in Diyala, testified in an Iraqi TV program that he was arrested by police under the command of Ghanim Abbas and was subjected to various forms of torture.
Similar protests have been held in a number of other cities in the province. A number of political, social and tribal figures have condemned the presence of Iranian linked terrorists in the Province.