Paramilitaries should be incorporated in Iraqi security bodies: Top Shiite cleric

A member of the Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Moblization units) carries a portrait of Iraqi Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in a street in the southern city of Basra. (AFP)

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Shiite paramilitary groups that fought against Daesh should be incorporated into state security bodies, the country’s top Shiite cleric said on Friday.
All weapons used to fight Daesh should be brought under the control of the Iraqi government, said Ali Al-Sistani.
He urged Haider Abadi, prime minister and commander in chief of the armed forces, to institutionalize paramilitary troops and benefit from their experience to support the security establishment. Abadi last week declared victory over Daesh, which seized swathes of territory in June 2014.
“The victory over Daesh does not represent the end of the battle with terrorism and terrorists,” said Al-Sistani.
“This battle will continue as long as there are people who were misled and embraced extremist thought,” he added.
“Beware of laxity in dealing with this constant threat… Hidden terrorist members and sleeper cells… are looking for opportunities to undermine the security and stability of the country.
“The Iraqi security establishment is still in dire need of the many heroic men who backed the army and federal police forces during the last few years, and fought with them on various fronts and did well in the most rugged areas and the harshest conditions.
“It is necessary to continue to use these important energies (the fighters) within the constitutional and legal frameworks that restrict arms to the state.”
The collapse of the Iraqi Army in 2014 and Daesh’s advance toward Baghdad prompted Al-Sistani to issue a religious edict urging Iraqis to volunteer to fight Daesh and stop its advance.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis, mainly Shiites, responded and fought alongside the government under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which was established by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. Shiite militias backed by Iran represented the backbone of the PMU.
Iraq’s Parliament legalized the PMU late last year, but Abadi has been facing pressure to dissolve it as it is widely seen as Iran’s armed wing in Iraq.
Al-Sistani’s speech supports Abadi’s efforts to institutionalize the PMU and turn it into a regular security apparatus that is fully subject to military standards approved by the defense and interior ministries.
“Parliament has issued the law of the PMU but left all details related to the number of troops, their kinds of weapons, missions, camps, where they have to be deployed… to Abadi,” Hisham Al-Hashimi, an Iraqi military and security analyst, told Arab News. “Al-Sistani has put all the responsibility on Abadi.”
Saraya Al-Salam, the armed wing of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, as well as the Badr Organization and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, the most powerful groups within the PMU, last week announced their readiness to hand over their weapons and put their fighters under Abadi’s command.
Iraqi officials told Arab News that the registered number of PMU fighters is more than 120,000, but most of them do not meet military standards regarding age, health and education.
“If Abadi applied military standards to the PMU, that would mean the demobilization of tens of thousands of fighters,” retired Gen. Emad Allow told Arab News.
“The government should provide job opportunities and training for demobilized fighters before sending them back on the street,” he said.
“The Defense Ministry and PMU commanders are already in talks to institutionalize the PMU, but no significant changes will take place on the ground soon.”