Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi and representatives of Muqtada Al-Sadr, leader of the Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM), agreed on Saturday on a mechanism to integrate Saraya Al-Salam, the movement's armed wing, into Iraq's security forces and transfer its weapons to the state.

During a meeting, the two sides also formed a committee to oversee the implementation process, with Al-Zaidi praising Al-Sadr's "national stance" in supporting the move.

On May 27, Al-Sadr announced the formal separation of Saraya Al-Salam from the PSM, stating that its members would integrate into state institutions "in the national interest." The handover process is expected to be completed by Eid Al-Ghadir, a major Shiite religious occasion that falls on June 4. Al-Zaidi welcomed the move and urged other armed factions to follow the same path through official institutions, stressing that “the state alone should hold the authority to monopolize arms and enforce the law,” a principle that forms one of the central pledges in his government program.

Earlier today, a government source told Shafaq News that the PM is preparing the next phase of efforts to bring armed factions under state control through a process that includes disarmament, the integration of fighters into official institutions, and the closure of faction-run sites under the supervision of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Read more: Ali Al-Zaidi's incomplete cabinet faces Iraqi armed factions test