Shafaq News- Baghdad
Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ali Falih Al-Zaidi held separate meetings on Saturday with the head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Faleh Al-Fayyad, Army Chief of Staff Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, and the Senior Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Hussein Hasab Al-Awadi, in his first round of security consultations since taking office.
According to his media office, Al-Zaidi received detailed briefings on the general security situation across the country during the meetings, with no details revealed about the content of the reports presented.
The Commander-in-Chief directed that efforts continue to consolidate security stability, intensify coordination among security agencies across all areas of responsibility, and raise readiness levels. He also called for meeting the requirements of officers and enlisted personnel in the armed forces and other security agencies to ensure the execution of their duties and missions.
The meetings come days after parliament granted confidence to Al-Zaidi's government, with nine cabinet portfolios —including the Interior and Defense ministries— still unfilled pending a post-Eid parliamentary session.
What the Program Says
Al-Zaidi's ministerial program devotes its first pillar to state sovereignty and national security. The headline commitment is the consolidation of all weapons exclusively in state hands and the enforcement of the rule of law, alongside unifying the security decision and linking all resources and capabilities to the formal state system.
The program commits to strengthening security, intelligence, and military agency capabilities and diversifying arms sources. It states that Iraq will not serve as a corridor or launching point for attacks on other states, and that no foreign state will be permitted to interfere in Iraqi internal affairs.
On the PMF specifically, the program commits to developing members' capabilities in a way that enhances combat readiness while defining their responsibilities, missions, and role within the military and security structure according to law.
The program also commits to cutting off funding sources for terrorism and organized crime, and to channeling all international engagement through official diplomatic channels.
Read more: Ali Al-Zaidi sworn in as Iraq's prime minister with a program already failed