US blacklists Iraqi militia leader connected to deadly anti-govt protests

WASHINGTON - The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on an Iraqi militia leader and former national security adviser, connecting him to human rights abuses during the 2019 anti-government demonstrations in which hundreds of protesters were killed.The US Treasury Department said in a statement it was blacklisting Falih al-Fayyadh, chairman of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Committee (PMC).The Treasury accused him of being part of a crisis cell formed in late 2019 to suppress protests with the support of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which is blacklisted by the United States.Washington said al-Fayyadh was the head of the PMC when forces under its command fired live ammunition at peaceful protesters in 2019, resulting in hundreds of deaths.