2026-07-19T10:33:06+00:00
font
Enable Reading Mode
A-
A
A+
Shafaq News-
Baghdad
A court in Baghdad
has ratified the confessions of two defendants accused of belonging to the
Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), locally known as the Al-Yamani Movement, Iraq’s
Supreme Judicial Council said on Sunday.
The
defendants admitted knowing that a girl had been hidden to facilitate her
marriage outside Iraq and her entry into the group, and using a Telegram
channel to arrange marriages among members and encourage young people to
emigrate, according to the council.
Authorities are
working to execute arrest warrants against other suspects.
The movement
is led by Ahmed al-Hasan al-Yamani,
a Shiite religious figure who claims to be the messianic “Al-Yamani.” In
Twelver Shiite Islam, the dominant branch of Islam in Iraq, Al-Yamani is
expected to emerge before the reappearance of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam.
In April
2025, an Iraqi security source told Shafaq News that authorities had detained a
“high-value target” believed to be the movement’s chief strategist in
Najaf province. Iraqi security agencies have repeatedly described such groups
as “deviant” movements that threaten social stability, while Iraq’s
leading Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has rejected claims by
individuals asserting they represent or are the awaited Mahdi, warning that
such assertions mislead the public and exploit periods of instability.