Iraq will begin a final push to gradually bring weapons held by armed factions under state control after the international coalition’s scheduled departure on September 30, national security adviser Qasim al-Araji says, describing the move as a “strategic Iraqi decision” to be carried out through dialogue rather than confrontation.
– Al-Araji told the state-run Iraqi News Agency on Sunday that the government was serious about severing ties between political parties and Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) brigades, adding that ongoing dialogue was producing positive results.
– “Weapons of the factions will become a force for the state and will not be handed over to any external party,” Araji said, adding that all political forces agree that the decision of war and peace rests exclusively with the state.
– Araji said: “September 30 is the date set for the departure of the Global Coalition, not the deadline for the handover of weapons.”
– Some Iran-aligned factions have so far resisted the process. Kataib Hezbollah has linked its disarmament to the departure of US and other foreign forces, and demanded, as conditions, that Turkish troops leave northern Iraq and that the Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) be dissolved.
– Araji said that “the factions are not enemies of the state; rather, they are part of it,” stressing that confrontation was a “red line” for the government, and that Baghdad would guarantee the rights of PMF fighters once the weapons were handed over.
– The push to centralise arms comes as Iraq prepares for the withdrawal of the US-led international coalition mission next month, a longstanding demand of Iran-aligned factions that have wielded significant military power since the fight against ISIL (ISIS).
https://aje.news/rucung?update=4879065