Rayan al-Kildani
Rayan al-Kildani ܪܝܢ ܟܠܕܝܐ ريان الكلداني | |
|---|---|
 Rayan delivering a speech, 2022 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 September 1989 Alqosh, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq |
| Political party | Babylon Movement |
Rayan Salem Sadiq Al-Kildani (Arabic: ريان سالم صادق الكلداني) or Rayan al-Kildani (Arabic: ريان الكلداني, English: Rayan the Chaldean) is an ethnic Assyrian Shia Muslim politician from Iraq. He is currently serving as the general secretary of the Babylon Movement, as well as its military component, the Babylon Brigade. He rose to power after founding the party in 2014, which had initially been involved in defending the Nineveh Plains from ISIS when they were at their most active.[1]
Al-Kildani has received a multitude of scrutiny for the Babylon Brigade and its role in human rights violations. Videos of Rayan cutting of a prisoners ear have surfaced, and his movement has been known to loot homes in Assyrian villages such as Bartella.[2] On July 18, 2019, United States vice president Mike Pence announced the imposition of sanctions on al-Kildani on the basis of the Magnitsky Act, acknowledging his ties to the Popular Mobilization Forces and Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.[3][4]
Biography[edit]
Rayan was born in 1989 in the town of Alqosh, in the Nineveh Governorate. At some point, he moved to Baghdad and remained settled in Sadr City, where he eventually assimilated into the majority Shia Muslim community. During the US invasion of Iraq, he left school and took up arms with the Mahdi Army, who was known for their attacks on US troops. It is said that he converted to Islam in order to marry into his wife's family, under Article 63 of the Constitution of Iraq.[5]
Rayan began his political experience in June 2014, when he founded the Babylon Brigades to defend the Nineveh Plains against ISIS. At the time, his movement had been the only Christian militia in the whole of the Popular Mobilization Forces, which is predominantly Shiite Muslim.[6] Kildani presented his movement as fighting for the existence of his once-important community, citing religious harmony between Christians and Muslims in the country.[7] At the time of its founding, the militia had a strong-hold of about 1000 fighters.[8]
In 2019, the United States formally sanctioned Rayan, as well as leader of the Shabak Militia Waad Qado, citing human rights violations and his connection to the Popular Mobilization Forces. Additional reasons for the sanction included systematic looting of villages and selling of agricultural land, blackmailing and harassing women, and preventing internally displaced persons from returning to their homes in the Nineveh Plains.[9] In response to the sanctions, the Iraqi Central Bank froze his assets after an official bank order.[10]
Modern political activities[edit]
In the 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election, Rayan and the Babylon Movement obtained 4 of the 5 seats reserved for Iraqi Christians out of the 329 seats in the Iraqi Parliament. However, the validity of the elections of these seats have been called into question, with former Assyrian MP Joseph Sliwa claiming that 90% of the votes for the organization weren't from Christians.[11] Following elections in 2023 yielded similar results for Rayan, which have lead to speculations of vote-buying and bypassing election loopholes to subdue proper Assyrian and Christian representation. [12]
That same year, in 2021, he was invited to meet with Lebanese president Michel Aoun, emphasizing the role of Christians across West Asia and ensuring demographic returns to Iraq.[13]
In 2022, Rayan met with Hoshyar Zebari of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to discuss the situation of Iraqi Christians and to have a mutual dialogue between political parties.[14] That same year, he met with Prime Minister of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Masrour Barzani, on the future of Iraq. He was also received by Massoud Barzani during the same meeting.[15]
In 2023, Rayan met with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres during his visit to Iraq. Guterres was subsequently faced with criticism after a photo of the pair, as well as Qais Khazali, surfaced online.[16]
Al-Kildani is allied with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of Kataeb Hezbollah and an affiliate of the Popular Mobilization Forces, and has previously been seen pictured with him.[17] He continues to lead the Babylon Brigade alongside his brother, Osama; despite Iraqi government orders to evacuate the Nineveh Plains, Rayan has so far refused to do so. It is speculated that Rayan continues to lead the Brigade for his own personal interests, given the land seizures and looting in the Nineveh Plains.
Relationship with the Chaldean Church and Assyrian Christians[edit]
Much of the scrutiny surrounding Rayan revolves around his conflict with the Chaldean Catholic Church, and its current patriarch Louis Raphael Sako. While al-Kildani claims that he and the members of the Babylon Brigade are religiously Christian, this has been disproven as many members are Shia Muslim. Sako has previously condemned al-Kildani as a militia leader who does not represent the interests of Christians, publicly dissociating the Church from the group.[17] In March 2016, the Chaldean Patriarchate announced that it had no connection with the militia or Rayan, that it did not represent it and that its official representatives weren't representative of Assyrians or Christians in Iraq either.
In March 2023, the Babylon Brigade was instigated in the arrests of seven members of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, as they had submitted a petition for the removal of the Babylon Brigade from the Hamdaniya district. In response, protests broke out amongst the Assyrians of Bakhdida, who were able to push out the militia from the district. Rayan had successfully coerced Younan Hanno, archbishop of the Syriac Catholic Church, into allowing his activities in the region. [18]
Rayan has previously engaged in public conflicts with Sako, with allegations from Rayan stating that the Chaldean Church had sold church properties. In July 2023, the feud was brought to light after Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid revoked the presidential decree recognizing the Chaldean Church in the country, where it was alleged that Rayan had a hand in influencing the presidents decision.[19] This caused Sako to leave for Erbil in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, as he called the move "unprecedented in Iraq's history," highlighting "the government's silence" about the incident and the suffering of the Christian community.[20] As a result, protests broke out in Ankawa against the decision and Rayan's movement. [21]
Rayan and his movement have been implicated in causing the Bakhdida wedding fire, an incident which he is believed to have taken advantage of in order to instill further influence in the Hamdaniya district. Earlier that year, he had faked a meeting with Pope Francis at the Holy See, which was additionally clarified by an official spokesperson at the Vatican to be false. [22] [23]
References[edit]
- ^ "The Christian militia fighting IS". BBC.com. April 11, 2016.
- ^ "Iraq Security and Humanitarian Monitor: JULY 11 – JULY 18, 2019". Enabling Peace in Iraq Center.
- ^ "U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Iraqi Militia Leaders and Ex-Governors". nytimes.com.
- ^ "U.S. imposes sanctions on four Iraqis over human rights and corruption". reuters.com. July 18, 2019.
- ^ "Iraq's remaining Christians threatened by pro-Iranian militia". La Croix International. 11 October 2023.
- ^ "In Iraq, Christian Militia Battles Islamic State Militants: 'ISIS Terrorists Are Our Enemy'". ibtimes. 2015-07-13.
- ^ "Interview: Babylon Movement elbows out Iraq's established Christian parties". amwaj. 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Iraqi Christians Form Babylonian Brigades Militia, Battle ISIS". NBC News. 12 July 2015.
- ^ "US sanctions 4 Iraqis for rights abuses, corruption". Diyaruna. 2019-07-19.
- ^ "Iraq's Central Bank orders 'freeze' of US-sanctioned figures' assets". Rudaw. 2019-07-25.
- ^ "Former Syriac Member of Iraqi Parliament Joseph Sliwa on Iraqi election results: The five 'winners' of Christian quota seats do not represent Christians". Syriac Press. 20 October 2021.
- ^ "Babiliyoun Movement Hijacks All Four Christian Minority Seats". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 2 January 2024.
- ^ "President Aoun discusses with Iraqi Babylon Movement situation of Iraqi Christians". MTV. 27 December 2021.
- ^ "Zebari meets with the head of Babylon movement in Baghdad". Shafaq News. 26 January 2022.
- ^ "PM Barzani and Rayan Al-Kildani discuss efforts to form the new Iraqi government". kurdistan24. 27 February 2022.
- ^ "UN chief criticised for posing with Iraqi militia leaders". The National News. 2 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Qui est la Brigade de Babylone, cette milice " chrétienne " pro-iranienne en Irak ?". L'Orient le jour (in French). 20 July 2023.
- ^ Beth-Addai, Yacoub. "Nineveh Plains Christians Defend Against the Babiliyoun Militia". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ "A feud between a patriarch and a militia leader adds to the woes of Iraqi Christians". abcnews. 4 August 2023.
- ^ "Patriarch Sako announces move to Kurdistan". Vatican News. 17 July 2023.
- ^ "Iraq's Christians protest government move against Cardinal Sako". Rudaw. 13 July 2023.
- ^ Beth-Addai, Yacoub. "Rayan al-Kildani Faces Election Backlash in the Months After Wedding Hall Fire". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ "Iraq: Beware of Rayan al-Kildani and his "Christian" Babylon Movement". Bitter Winter. 27 September 2023.