Iraqi armed groups link disarmament to US withdrawal, formation of new government
Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2022 6:42 am
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220 ... government
Iraqi armed groups link disarmament to US withdrawal, formation of new government
April 8, 2022
Iraq's Hashd Al-Shaabi paramilitary forces, on Friday, said the armed factions would hand over their weapons after a new government is formed and US forces withdraw from the country, Anadolu News Agency reports.
Iraq has been experiencing a political crisis since the results of the parliamentary elections were announced at the end of last year.
Disagreement among political groups in parliament has led to a deadlock, preventing the election of a new president and the formation of a government.
Shia cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement whose party won the last parliamentary elections, said recently that disarming Shia factions not supervised by the State would be key in including a group of Shia parties known as the Coordination Framework in a new coalition government.
The Coordination Framework is an umbrella of Shia parties pushing Al-Sadr to accept their participation in the next government, based on a sectarian quota system. Al-Sadr has, however, insisted on forming a "national majority" government.
"In principle, this (Al-Sadr's) proposal was approved," Falih Al-Fayyadh, head of the Hashd Al-Shaabi, said in an interview with the local Al-Sharqiya TV network.
Al-Fayyadh said the factions want a new government and the withdrawal of US forces from the country in exchange for handing over their weapons.
The Hashd Al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces, is an official institution operating under the office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Iraq and Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
Recent months saw a spate of attacks targeting US-led coalition convoys in central and southern Iraq.
The attacks came after a threat by Iran-affiliated Iraqi armed factions to target foreign forces in the country.
Washington accuses Iran-backed Iraqi groups of being behind the attacks, an accusation denied by Tehran.
Iraqi armed groups link disarmament to US withdrawal, formation of new government
April 8, 2022
Iraq's Hashd Al-Shaabi paramilitary forces, on Friday, said the armed factions would hand over their weapons after a new government is formed and US forces withdraw from the country, Anadolu News Agency reports.
Iraq has been experiencing a political crisis since the results of the parliamentary elections were announced at the end of last year.
Disagreement among political groups in parliament has led to a deadlock, preventing the election of a new president and the formation of a government.
Shia cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement whose party won the last parliamentary elections, said recently that disarming Shia factions not supervised by the State would be key in including a group of Shia parties known as the Coordination Framework in a new coalition government.
The Coordination Framework is an umbrella of Shia parties pushing Al-Sadr to accept their participation in the next government, based on a sectarian quota system. Al-Sadr has, however, insisted on forming a "national majority" government.
"In principle, this (Al-Sadr's) proposal was approved," Falih Al-Fayyadh, head of the Hashd Al-Shaabi, said in an interview with the local Al-Sharqiya TV network.
Al-Fayyadh said the factions want a new government and the withdrawal of US forces from the country in exchange for handing over their weapons.
The Hashd Al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces, is an official institution operating under the office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Iraq and Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
Recent months saw a spate of attacks targeting US-led coalition convoys in central and southern Iraq.
The attacks came after a threat by Iran-affiliated Iraqi armed factions to target foreign forces in the country.
Washington accuses Iran-backed Iraqi groups of being behind the attacks, an accusation denied by Tehran.