The top security official in the notoriously restive Diyala Province, site of a recent security crackdown, has been sacked by the governorate’s elected governing body, according to a report in Arabic on an Iraqi news website.

The head of the security committee in Diyala Province, Husayn al-Zubaydi announced Monday morning that members of the provincial council voted to sack the commander of the Diyala Police forces, Maj. Gen. Ghanim al-Qurayshi.

Newsmatique writes that al-Zubaydi said, “The provincial council convened an emergency meeting Monday morning in the provincial council building and voted unanimously to dismiss al-Qurayshi from his post,” according to his remarks to the agency.

The Diyala provincial council had threatened to dismiss al-Qurayshi last week, “if he insists in implementing the order of the interior ministry to withdraw all guards and personal arms from members of the council.”

Al-Zubaydi added that “The decision to sack him comes for a group of reasons, most importantly al-Qurayshi’s lack of cooperation with the council in many of the security matters and his unjustified interference in non-security matters,” according to what he said.

Al-Zubaydi accused the head of the security committee in the province and commander of the police forces of “Sacking a number of officers and police employees without justification, and working to rebuild the Ba'thist elements in the police agencies,” according to the councilman’s remarks.

Al-Qurayshi was appointed to his post in 2006 as Ba'qouba, the provincial capital, suffered under the control of armed groups, Newsmatique writes.