Iraqi education minister resigns over brother’s links with Islamic State

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi Minister of Education Shaimaa Al-Hayaali has offered her resignation to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi amid reports that her brother had links with the terrorist Islamic State group.

In a press statement on her Twitter account, Hayaali made it clear that her brother, Laith, was “forced at gunpoint to join the Islamic State,” adding that he did not carry arms, nor did he kill or help kill any Iraqi.

She added that Islamic State militants, after seizing control of Nineveh province, forced citizens to keep their civil posts.

Hayaali concluded that her resignation is “now in the hands of Prime Minister Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi to decide on it once he makes sure that I do not have any links with terrorism or terrorist groups, God forbid.”

Hayaali assumed office as education minister last Monday after a parliament session that also saw the appointment of Nofal Bahaa as minister of migration and displacement.