Iraqi PM urges armed factions to follow Al-Sadr move under state authority
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi on Wednesday welcomed Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM) leader Muqtada Al-Sadr’s decision to place Saraya Al-Salam, the movement’s armed wing, under state authority, calling it an important step toward strengthening stability and reinforcing the rule of law.
Al-Zaidi said the initiative would support Iraq’s security institutions in carrying out their constitutional duties and called on other armed factions to follow the same path through the country’s official institutions, based on the principle that “the state alone should hold the authority to monopolize arms and enforce the law.”
Earlier today, Al-Sadr announced the formal separation of Saraya Al-Salam from the PSM, formerly known as the Sadrist Movement, stating that its members would integrate into state institutions “in the national interest” and in response to risks facing the country.
Read more: Ali Al-Zaidi's incomplete cabinet faces Iraqi armed factions test
The Shiite cleric had previously called for all armed factions in Iraq to be integrated into state-controlled institutions, remarks widely interpreted as directed at Iran-backed groups operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella, including Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhadaa, and Harakat al-Nujaba. Many of those factions are formally part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a predominantly Shiite umbrella force incorporated into the Iraqi state in 2016, but they continue to maintain separate command structures and weapons networks outside direct government control.
Read more: Iraq’s armed factions and disarmament debate: Unity masks divisions
