Baghdad preacher backs Iraq move to restrict weapons to state
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Restricting armed factions' weapons to state control is a sovereign matter that must remain exclusively in the hands of the government, Abdul Wahab Al-Samarrai, preacher of Abu Hanifa Al-Numan Mosque in Baghdad, said on Friday.
“The government has thankfully taken this important step, which we hope will achieve stability, security, peace and coexistence,” Al-Samarrai stated during the Friday sermon. “There can be no security as long as several sides carry weapons while others remain unarmed.”
A day earlier, Security Media Cell chief Major General Saad Maan announced the first practical steps toward integrating armed factions into Iraq's official security structure, with a government committee receiving Saraya Al-Salam headquarters and weapons in Samarra following an initiative by Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM) leader Muqtada Al-Sadr to place the force's facilities and weapons under state authority.
The committee, Maan explained, was formed to establish the technical procedures, legal mechanisms, and organizational arrangements required to complete the transfer and integration process.
On June 1, the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework, parliament's largest bloc with more than 160 of 329 seats, authorized Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi to take the measures necessary to “protect Iraq's interests” while backing efforts to place all weapons under state control and separate the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) from political, partisan, and social affiliations.
Several factions have since signaled support for the process. Asaib Ahl Al-Haq announced the formation of a committee to transfer weapons, personnel, and equipment to state authority, while Kataib Al-Imam Ali declared its intention to separate from the PMF and place its weapons under government control. Harakat Hezbollah Al-Nujaba, however, argued that “resistance weapons” should not be included in state control measures, while Kataib Hezbollah supported centralizing weapons under government oversight but indicated it would not disarm.
Restricting weapons to state authority forms a central pillar of Al-Zaidi's government program, which commits the government to consolidating all weapons under exclusive state control and preventing armed groups from operating outside Iraq's formal military and security institutions.
