Iraq armed groups condition disarmament on end of “occupation”
Shafaq News– Baghdad
On Sunday, Iraq’s Resistance Coordination Committee rejected any discussion of disarmament, saying it opposes what it described as external calls on the issue.
In a statement, the committee, made up of armed factions that operate brigades within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) while maintaining independent decision-making, said it would not engage in talks over laying down arms. The group includes Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Kataib Karbala, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and Kataib Hezbollah.
The committee outlined several demands, including the passage of the PMF Law, a long-standing point of contention among Iraqi political blocs and one that has faced pressure from the United States to prevent its approval in parliament.
Read more: Iraq’s PMF Law: A battle for state control
It added that any dialogue with the Iraqi government on disarming armed factions would only be possible after the removal of “all forms of occupation* and related threats.”
Earlier on Sunday, Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the government’s effort to restrict weapons to state control “is backed by parliament and will remain a purely Iraqi decision.”
Read more: Iraq’s armed factions and the disarmament debate: Why unity masks deep divisions
*Iraqi armed factions generally apply the term “occupation” to remaining US, NATO, and Turkish military deployments, including advisory forces stationed at a small number of bases under security arrangements with the Iraqi government.
