Shafaq News- Baghdad
The United States and several Iraqi political factionsare seeking to dismantle the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) by integratingits members into other state institutions, an Iraqi lawmaker from the HoqooqMovement, the political wing of Kataib Hezbollah, said on Monday.
Speaking to Shafaq News, MP Miqdad Al-Khafaji arguedthat the issue is being used as leverage against factions affiliated with the“resistance” and their parliamentary allies to influence future politicaldecisions and projects. He stressed that the Hoqooq Movement rejects any effortto absorb the PMF, which includes more than 200,000 personnel, into ministriesor state institutions.
Debate over regulating weapons outside state controland restructuring armed factions has intensified in recent weeks. A governmentsource told Shafaq News on Sunday that several Iraqi political factions andarmed groups had shown “flexibility” toward handing over their weapons to thestate after previously rejecting the proposal, with a phased process expectedto begin after Eid Al-Adha on May 27.
According to the source, discussions are underway toestablish a mechanism for transferring weapons under the supervision of PrimeMinister Ali Al-Zaidi following the completion of cabinet formation. Under theproposed arrangements, armed groups could transform into political entities orgradually join the PMF, a coalition of mostly Shiite factions formallyincorporated into Iraq’s security apparatus under Law No. 40 of 2016.
The source also indicated that several factionspreviously opposed to disarmament or integration softened their position afterreceiving messages from Esmail Qaani during his recent visit to Baghdad, notingthat the messages emphasized regulating the weapons of Iran-aligned factionsand integrating their members into official institutions because there was “nolonger a need” for independent armed formations.
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