PM Al-Zaidi to join CF talks on Kataib Hezbollah
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Leaders of the Shiite Coordination Framework (CF) are set to meet with Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi to discuss the implications of rising tensions between the Iraqi government and Kataib Hezbollah and efforts to bring weapons under exclusive state control, an informed source told Shafaq News on Monday.
The source said the meeting at the home of Islamic Supreme Council leader Humam Hamoudi would examine the risks posed by rising tensions between Al-Zaidi and the faction as efforts continue to contain the dispute and prevent a more serious escalation.
Participants will also discuss completing negotiations on state control of weapons and review the draft agreement proposed by the CF’s four-member committee in talks with the armed factions, the source said. The aim is to reach understandings on the issue.
Read more: Kataib Hezbollah-linked MP questions Al-Zaidi's wealth and advisers
Relations between Al-Zaidi and Kataib Hezbollah have recently deteriorated. A government source close to Al-Zaidi previously told Shafaq News that talks on disarming armed factions had reached a near-deadlock as factions continued to refuse to surrender their weapons and intensified their criticism of the prime minister. Kataib Hezbollah is among the groups that have resisted giving up their weapons.
Friction deepened after Al-Zaidi canceled three leases at Mosul International Airport signed with companies linked to armed groups and ordered them reassigned to international firms, according to an informed source and contract documents obtained by Shafaq News. Kataib Hezbollah responded by urging the Integrity Commission to examine the finances of Hassan Al-Zaidi, the prime minister’s brother, and denied controlling contracts at Iraqi airports.
A senior Kataib Hezbollah security official had earlier warned that Al-Zaidi’s government would be toppled “by all means” if it failed to serve Iraqis. Hoqooq parliamentary bloc leader Su’ud Al-Saadi has separately challenged the government’s dinar devaluation before the Federal Supreme Court.
National Wisdom Movement leader Ammar Al-Hakim and Islamic Supreme Council leader Humam Hamoudi have begun mediating between Al-Zaidi and Kataib Hezbollah to avert a potential armed confrontation, another source familiar with the matter had told Shafaq News.
