Iraqi Christian poet appeals to Al Sadr after being insulted by another poet

Dubai: An Iraqi Christian female poet has appealed to Muqtada Al Sadr, the Shiite cleric and politician considered to be one of the most powerful political figures in Iraq, to get justice after being verbally attacked by a Shiite poet.

In a TV interview, the Iraqi poet, journalist and singer Ranin Tabouni said she was verbally attacked by a Shiite male poet describing her using outrageous terms.

Addressing Al Sadr in the interview, Tabouni: “I am a young Christian woman. I do not belong to high-ranking family to protect my rights. The poet Abbas Abdul Hassan, who speaks in your name, has sworn at me and defamed my honour. I want you to help me get justice. I did not reply to him and waited for him to apologise to end the matter, but he did not.”

Upon learning about the woman’s ordeal, Al Sadr has apparently taken action, disowning and firing the poet Abbas Abdul Hassan, known as the “poet of resistance".

Al Sadr’s office published a statement, in which it said that “Muqtada Al Sadr decided to punish the poet Abbas Abdul Hassan, by disowning him and removing him from the Sadrist movement".