Abdullatif Salafi flees Kurdistan for UK amid sex harassment case

A controversial Islamic Salafi preacher Dr. Abdul Latif Ahmed Mustafa, also known as Abdullatif Salafi. He is the leader of the Salafi Movement, July 2026. Photo: Video/Salafi’s FB/NRT/via iKurd.net

SULAIMANI,—Dr. Abdul Latif Ahmed, also known as Abdullatif Salafi, has fled Iraqi Kurdistan and traveled to Turkey before heading to the United Kingdom, local media reported Tuesday.

Salafi leads the Islamist Salafi Movement and had worked as a lecturer at the University of Sulaimani until he was removed from his post following accusations of sexual harassment from 10 female students.

Reports said Salafi flew out of Kurdistan through Kirkuk International Airport early Tuesday.

People close to him told a Kurdish television station that he landed in Istanbul and planned to fly onward from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport to Britain.

There, reportedly he intends to file a formal complaint over audio recordings that were leaked and attributed to him.

On Sunday, before fleeing, Salafi issued a statement saying he would pause his public activities for an unspecified period. He said the break would be temporary and that he expected to regain his legal and religious standing through the courts.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Kurdistan Region permanently dismissed Salafi from his teaching post on July 1. The decision followed the findings of a university investigative committee that examined the harassment allegations.

Eleven people, described as complainants in the case, appeared before a judge at the Sulaimani Court on Tuesday to give testimony, an informed source said. Some described experiences of sexual harassment they said involved Salafi, while others offered testimony connected to those claims.

The source said the same individuals had earlier given statements to the university’s investigative committee before repeating them in court.

The hearing before the judge lasted about four hours, during which their statements were formally entered into the court record, the source said. Because the case carries potential criminal elements, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has become involved, according to the source.

The source also linked Salafi’s escape from Kurdistan to the fallout from the case and the ministry’s dismissal order.

Political analyst Henase Karim, speaking to iKurd, said Salafi appeared to be attempting to escape accountability by invoking religious language, suggesting he believes his Islamic rhetoric might shield him from the criminal allegations.

Karim argued that political Islamist figures who he said had caused harm to Kurds and the Kurdistan Region should face punishment, accusing them of placing religious identity above Kurdish nationalism and replacing Kurdish Islamic terminology with Arabic Islamic terminology.

Separately, a source close to Salafi’s family said he has not dropped his own case and is instead pressing forward with it, including seeking help from Interpol. The source said he plans to file complaints against people who insulted him or his relatives.

Karim, responding to that claim, dismissed it, saying that if Salafi believes he is innocent he should appear before the court and testify, adding that the evidence available points against him.

The family source said they have identified who was behind releasing the videos and audio recordings and said Salafi would keep pursuing the matter until, in his view, the truth comes out.

The controversy began after audio recordings and messages surfaced online weeks earlier, purportedly containing Salafi’s voice and written messages exchanged with a female student.