Shafaq News- Baghdad

Disputes have intensified within Iraq’s Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), parliament’s largest bloc, over a reported US proposal calling for the disarmament of armed factions and the dissolution or restructuring of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an informed source told Shafaq News on Monday.

Several political groups aligned with the factions warned they would withdraw from the coalition and boycott the political process if the alliance backs measures targeting the PMF, while other parties expressed readiness to abandon armed activity in exchange for senior positions within the state, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

The CF, the source added, is expected to hold a meeting in the coming days to discuss the US proposal and its political and security implications.

MP Miqdad Al-Khafaji of the Hoqooq bloc, Kataib Hezbollah’s political wing within the CF, had earlier accused Washington and multiple Iraqi political groups of seeking to end the PMF’s role by distributing its fighters across ministries and security institutions. Speaking to our agency, he argued that the issue is being used as leverage against factions affiliated with the “resistance” and their parliamentary allies to shape future political decisions and projects.

A government source previously told our agency that Iraqi factions and armed groups had shown “flexibility” toward handing over their weapons to the state after initially rejecting the proposal, with a phased process expected to begin after Eid Al-Adha on May 27.

Officials are also discussing mechanisms for implementing the process under the supervision of Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi once cabinet formation is completed. Under the proposed framework, some factions could transition into political organizations, while others may be absorbed into the PMF, a coalition of mostly Shiite factions formally incorporated into Iraq’s security apparatus under Law No. 40 of 2016.

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