ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A leaked video of Ahmed Hamdawi Owaid Ma’arij al-Kinani, the man accused of killing Iraqi security expert Hisham al-Hashimi in 2020, shows him confessing that officials in Kataib Hezbollah, a pro-Iran Iraqi armed group, told him that Hashimi was giving information to the US embassy.

Kinani said in the video, obtained by The New Region, that he did not know Hashimi at the time of the killing. He said the orders came from Hussein Moanes and a man named Abu Nargis. After the murder, Kinani said he felt deep regret when he learned the victim's identity through social media. He added that he began visiting shrines, crying at night, and could not sleep more than one or two hours.

The Supreme Judicial Council said in a statement on Sunday that the video, which was recently posted on social media, shows the released defendant speaking about the killing. It confirmed that Kinani had previously been arrested under Committee No. 29, known as the Abu Ragheef Committee, which was formed under the previous government. His statements were officially recorded at that time.

However, the council said the content of the leaked video does not match what Kinani said in his official testimony. It also noted that the video appears to have been filmed by a police officer from the same committee and that sharing it violates legal procedures and aims to mislead public opinion.

In May 2023, Kinani was sentenced to death for the killing. But in March 2024, a court issued a decision to release him after an appeal led to his acquittal.

In the leaked video, published for the first time on Monday, July 7, 2025, Kinani said he and others waited in a garden before receiving the order to carry out the killing. He said he got the command from Abu Nargis, then took a motorcycle and waited outside Hashimi’s house.

“I tried to use the Gaddara [a type of weapon], but it didn’t work,” he said. “I pulled out the pistol and shot him.”

“He didn’t notice me at first. But when he saw the gun and saw me, I fired five or six bullets through the car window. I saw him fall inside the car. I got on the motorcycle and escaped.”

He said he was joined by other armed men on motorcycles. After the attack, they left the area and went through Palestine Street, Mustansiriya, and Talbiya. The driver struggled to find a way out near the canal.

“There were two others with us, named Sayyid Ahmed and Abu Zahra,” he said. “Abu Nargis stayed behind. We tried calling him, but he didn’t answer.”

Kinani said Abu Nargis, along with Hassan Moanes, gave the order for the killing. He added that Abu Nargis received his instructions from the General Secretariat through Hussein Moanes, who was in charge of intelligence.

He also said that Abu Nargis had a direct supervisor named Abu Abdullah, who took important orders and coordinated with the intelligence chief to carry them out.

The leak comes as Iraq marks five years since the assassination of Hisham al-Hashimi outside his home in Baghdad on July 6, 2020.