Former Socceroos manager left 'stranded' in Iraq amid escalating conflict between Israel and Iran
Former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has been forced to seek refuge in a high-security hotel in Iraq after being unable to fly home to Australia, according to reports.
Amid escalating conflicts between Israel and Iran, flights have been grounded in Iraq with Baghdad airport being closed last week.
The 61-year-old football coach, who was appointed Iraq's new coach in May, is said to be 'safe' but is 'unsettled'.
The Courier Mail reports the football manager has told friends he was nervous that the US Embassy, located less than a kilometre from his hotel, had been closed by President Donald Trump last week.
He had planned to stay in the country for a week after Iraq's international matches at the beginning of the month.
A friend of Arnold's told the outlet: 'Arnie is stuck in Baghdad, the airport is closed.
'He is safe but unsettled and uncomfortable. He is staying at a high-security Baghdad hotel.'
They added: 'Graham isn't saying much but the only worry is whether this could escalate to involve other countries.
'Hopefully, the airport opens in the next 24 hours.'
It is understood that several other members of his coaching team are also unable to leave the country.
Zeljko Kalac, a member of his coaching staff, is said to have left on the last flight out of Baghdad.
Multiple airlines have been avoiding the airspace around Iraq, Iran and Jordan.
Emirates and Qatar Airways have also cancelled flights to Iraq.
It comes as Israel and Iran have launched multiple missile strikes against eachother in recent days.
Arnold, who hails from Sydney, enjoyed a glittering 20-year career on the pitch, playing for Sydney United, Liege, and NAC Breda before he hung up his boots in 2000.
He would later step into coaching, taking charge of the Australian national side on two occasions, while also taking charge of Sydney United and Northern Spirit.
Arnold, an inductee of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, had taken charge of two matches for Iraq, before conflicts between Israel and Iran arose in recent days.
On June 5, Iraq were beaten 2-0 by South Korea, Arnold's first game in charge of the National side. Five days later he claimed his first win as the country's head coach, beating Jordan 1-0 in their World Cup Qualifying match at the Amman International Stadium in Jordan.
The football coach stepped down from his role as the manager of the Australian national side in September with two years left on his contract.
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In a statement emailed to The Telegraph, the group said: 'Under Section 1 of the Genocide Convention, Britain is obliged to prevent and punish the crime of genocide ... When our government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action. The terrorists are the ones committing a genocide, not those who break the tools used to commit it.' The Campaign Against Antisemitism expressed concern about the escalation of the group's activities in Britain. Like politicians such as Robert Jenrick and Nigel Farage, they think the time has come to proscribe it as a terror organisation. 'Palestine Action has escalated from vandalising corporate property to targeting Jewish businesses and charities, and now sabotaging RAF aircraft,' said a spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism. 'They've even staged grotesque mock beheadings and destroyed works of art. This is a group fuelled by hatred and driven by destruction. 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an hour ago
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It went on to say that since the pause in production of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, 'it has not undergone the BBC's final pre-broadcast sign-off processes' and 'any film broadcast will not be a BBC film'. Critics were also enraged by the Beeb's failure to disclose who the film's narrator was, leading former director of BBC Television Danny Cohen to say: 'The BBC appears to have given an hour of prime-time coverage to the son of a senior member of the Hamas terrorist group. 'Either they were not aware of the terrorist links because they did not carry out the most basic journalistic checks or the BBC did know and misled audiences about the family's deep involvement with terrorism.' The BBC documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was broadcast on BBC Two with the aim of showing a 'vivid and unflinching view of life' in the enclave Since the allegations were made, the BBC has apologised and added new text to the film which explains who Abdullah and his father are. In an email exchange via the BBC, Abdullah reportedly said he wanted to be part of the documentary, which was made by Hoyo Films, 'to explain the suffering that people here in Gaza witness with the language that the world understands, English.' He is said to have asked to be involved to help viewers learn about the situation on the ground without being 'blurred by misinformation'. The BBC documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was broadcast on February 17 on BBC Two with the aim of showing a 'vivid and unflinching view of life' in the strip. It was made by two producers based in London who remotely directed two cameramen on the ground over nine months. Independent investigative journalist David Collier claimed one of the child narrators, Abdullah, is the son of a Hamas government minister and grandson of one of Hamas's founding members. Using Facebook and publicly available data online, Mr Collier claimed the show's young star is the son of Gaza's deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri. This would mean his grandfather would be the Hamas founder Ibrahim al-Yazouri, who has previously been jailed by Egypt and Israel for involvement in proscribed groups. The Daily Mail has not been able to independently verify Mr Collier's claims. The BBC apologised for the inclusion of the documentary's young star, with a spokesperson for the corporation saying: 'Since the transmission of our documentary on Gaza, the BBC has become aware of the family connections of the film's narrator, a child called Abdullah. 'We've promised our audiences the highest standards of transparency, so it is only right that as a result of this new information, we add some more detail to the film before its retransmission. We apologise for the omission of that detail from the original film.' The BBC said the new text attached to the film: 'The narrator of this film is 13 year old Abdullah. His father has worked as a deputy agriculture minister for the Hamas-run government in Gaza. The production team had full editorial control of filming with Abdullah.' 'We followed all of our usual compliance procedures in the making of this film, but we had not been informed of this information by the independent producers when we complied and then broadcast the finished film,' the statement added. 'The film remains a powerful child's eye view of the devastating consequences of the war in Gaza which we believe is an invaluable testament to their experiences, and we must meet our commitment to transparency.'
