![A military marching band plays outside during the first provincial council elections in a decade, at a polling station in the central city of Najaf, on December 18, 2023. The vote comes at a time of widespread disillusionment among the country's 43 million inhabitants, with endemic corruption eating away at the oil-rich nation. (Photo by Qassem al-KAABI / AFP) (Photo by QASSEM AL-KAABI/AFP via Getty Images)](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-12/GettyImages-1856983011.jpg?h=4762a210&itok=A1yKwTOw)
![Suadad al-Salhy headshot](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2023-10/Suadad%20al-Salhy%20headshot.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=f2aYcjXq)
In Baghdad, reporting on politics and security
Suadad al-Salhy is a freelance reporter covering Iraqi politics and security. She is a former Reuters correspondent who has written for the New York Times, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, the Telegraph and Arab News. In 2022, she won the journalist of the year prize at the Drum Online Media Awards for her reporting for Middle East Eye. On Twitter: @suadadalsalhy