Al-Suleiman on the arrest warrant against him: where were the plaintiffs 10 years ago? 

Shafaq News/ The controversial Sunni figure, Ali Hatem al-Suleiman, accused political parties he did not name of inciting sectarian strife and dragging the country back to square one.

Earlier today, Tuesday, the court of Najaf issued an arrest warrant against the head of al-Dulaim tribes a few days after a group of "martyrs' families" filed a lawsuit against him.

"We were hoping that the Iraqi judiciary pursues impartiality, resists the political pressures, and avoids the differences and skirmishes that lead to no where but chaos," he tweeted.

"Where were the plaintiffs ten years ago. Why now? And what is the lawsuit they filed?"

"We know that those orchestrating these deeds are political parties that want to drag the streets into sectarianism and polarity again and rturn things back to the square one. We will not allow this and will respond in a way we find appropriate."

Al-Suleiman had been known as a fugitive after supporting protests and anti-government activities included an armed insurrection in 2014 that many see as a prime reason why IS was able to take over and wreak so much destruction on both his own province and the rest of the country.