US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday urged Iraq's designated prime minister to protect US troops and meet grievances of a months-long protest movement ahead of a parliamentary confidence vote.

In the first substantive US comment on Mohammad Allawi since he was named on February 1 as a consensus candidate, Pompeo said he told him by telephone that the United States backed a "strong, sovereign and prosperous" Iraq.

Pompeo "stressed Iraq's obligation to protect US and coalition diplomats, forces and facilities," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Pompeo spoke to Allawi about "the urgency with which Iraq's next government must put an end to the killing of protesters, seek justice for those killed and wounded, and address their legitimate grievances," she said.

Allawi has called a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday ahead of a deadline, after earlier skepticism that he could form and win approval for a government.

The United States last month outraged Iraqi leaders by carrying out a drone stroke at Baghdad's airport that killed a top general from neighboring Iran, Qassem Soleimani.

Tensions had soared after Iranian-linked Iraqi Shiite militias fired rockets on bases that are home to US bases, with fresh attacks reported in recent weeks.

US leaders scoffed at the Iraqi objections to the killing of Soleimani on its soil, with President Donald Trump threatening economic sanctions if Baghdad evicted the 5,200 troops in the country, which was thrown into chaos by the 2003 US invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

Pompeo refused a request by the outgoing prime minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, to send a delegation to discuss a troop withdrawal and said publicly that many Iraqi leaders privately wanted US forces to stay.

Abdel Mahdi stepped down in December in the face of the unprecedented anti-government protests demanding an end to corruption, an independent prime minister and a total government overhaul.

But protesters have slammed the choice of Allawi as his successor, saying the two-time former communications minister is too close to the elite they have railed against for months.

The Iraqi prime minister's office described the conversation with Pompeo as a congratulatory call. The State Department did not explicitly offer congratulations but described Allawi as the "new prime minister."

Grave of slain Iraq commander, a new anti-US magnet
Najaf, Iraq (AFP) Feb 23, 2020 - A minibus stopped outside the world's largest cemetery in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf. Five women got out, telephone cameras filming the scene, and dashed excitedly towards a grave.

Clad in black, they joined wailing women and men beating their chests in grief at Wadi al-Salam (valley of peace), an ever expanding cemetery.

All eyes were on the grave of Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Killed alongside top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, Muhandis is now revered as a martyred icon of anti-American resistance.

His grave has become a magnet for Shiites vowing vengeance against Washington.

Below a life-sized portrait of the deceased commander, a young man kneeled before his grave, the wailing of women ringing around him.

"May God avenge us from America," the man screamed.

Located along aisle nine of Wadi al-Salam, the commander's final resting place has gained near-holy status.

It has become a stop for the thousands of Shiite pilgrims who pass through Najaf each day to visit the tomb of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed.

"It is not just a grave, it has been transformed into a shrine," Abbas Abdul Hussein, a security official at the cemetery, told AFP.

"Men, women and children... flock from Iran, Lebanon and Bahrain daily to visit Abu Mahdi," he said.

- 'Hell' to pay -

Washington's number one enemy in Iraq, Muhandis was head of the Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iraqi military network largely incorporated into the state.

He was Soleimani's top Iraqi aide and widely seen as Tehran's man in Baghdad.

The US strike that killed Muhandis and Soleimani outside Baghdad airport dealt a severe blow to Tehran and its so-called axis of resistance that stretches across Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

Iraq's armed factions, the most hardline of which are financed, trained and armed by Iran, have vowed to avenge Muhandis's death.

They said America's 5,200 troops in Iraq would have "hell" to pay.

But almost two months after the assassination, there has yet to be a heavy response, apart from Iranian missile strikes on January 8.

As well as the grave at Wadi Salam, a small altar has been erected at the site of Muhandis's death at the entrance to Baghdad airport.

Dressed in black from head-to-toe, Um Hussein said she made a 450-kilometre (280-mile) trek from Basra in southern Iraq to pay homage at the grave.

"Every time we come to visit (the tomb of) Imam Ali, we will make a stop to see the hero and martyr Muhandis," she said.

"It is a duty."

- 'Hero' who defeated IS -

From the early hours of the day until after sunset, the entrance to the cemetery is bustling with minibusses ferrying visitors.

Standing over Muhandis's grave, tears rolling down her cheeks, Souad said she also came from Basra to honour the "hero" who "defeated" the Islamic State (IS) group.

"His death really affected us and the Hashed as a whole," she said.

Wadi Salam is also the final resting place of thousands of Hashed fighters killed during the 2014-2017 battle against IS.

It was on this front that Muhandis -- known for his virulent anti-Americanism long before the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq -- became a revered figure.

Muhandis, accused of involvement in deadly 1983 attacks against the French and US embassies in Kuwait, oversaw the Hashed and its integration into the state.

He transformed most of his paramilitary fighters into regulars, but some have remained outside state structures, including those Washington accuses of attacking its personnel in Iraq.

Flanked by the graves of other Shiite commanders, Reza Abadi, an Iranian from Soleimani's hometown of Kerman, recited a eulogy over the grave of Muhandis.

"We came here to show our respect for this man who is dear to Iranians and Iraqis," he said. "The memory of the two martyrs, Hajj Qasem and Abu Mahdi, will never be forgotten."

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All-women protest held in Iraq holy city
Najaf, Iraq (AFP) Feb 19, 2020
Hundreds of Iraqi women staged a march Wednesday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf insisting on their right to play a central role in the protest movement sweeping the country. "No voice can muffle the voices of women," said one of the marchers, Saba, 22, reacting to a call from influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr against mixed-sex demonstrations. "We started demonstrating to bring down the regime. Now we're holding women-only marches because they've insulted us," she told AFP. Nada Qassem ... read more