Iraq’s disarmament push serves foreign demands: Harakat al-Nujaba
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Harakat al-Nujaba, a pro-Iran Iraqi armed faction, on Thursday reiterated that they do not plan to hand over their weapons, asserting that the Iraqi government’s campaign to restrict arms to the state by the end of September serves foreign demands, not Iraqi interests.
The Iraqi government under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has led a renewed drive to disarm militias and restrict weapons to state control, vowing to complete all disarmament by the end of September, and drawing the ire of pro-Iran armed factions in the country.
“We believe that restricting weapons to the state in this manner serves external American, Zionist, Western, and Gulf demands. This is the same project that is being implemented in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria by linking these issues to normalization processes [with Israel] in the region,” a spokesperson for Harakat al-Nujaba told The New Region on Thursday.
Coinciding with the deadline set by the government to disarm all non-state actors, the mandate of the US-led global coalition forces is also set to expire on September 30, and both Baghdad and Washington have stressed their commitment to abide by that deadline.
Zaidi has repeatedly noted that the withdrawal of the coalition forces means there is no longer a need for the existence of so-called “resistance” groups. Harakat al-Nujaba believes that the Americans will not completely withdraw from Iraqi territory.
“The Americans cannot leave Iraq,” the spokesperson said. “There are numerous examples worldwide, such as their presence in Germany, Japan, the Gulf region, Turkey, and other countries. Moreover, Iraq represents a matter of national security for their interests and serves the American, Zionist, Western, and Gulf projects in the region.”
In the face the lightning advance of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq, in June 2014, Iraq’s top Shiite authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a historic fatwa, calling on all able-bodied Iraqis to volunteer and join the security forces in combating the extremist threat.
The spokesperson described the Iraqi resistance groups as an “integral, active, and powerful” part of the country, and that their weapons are “ideological and popular, emanating from the Iraqi people. They derive their legitimacy from the fatwa issued by the wise religious authority in Najaf and enjoy the support of broad segments of Iraqi society.”
Many of the groups that were formed following Sistani’s call have since been been officially incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces as part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), enjoying similar privileges as the Iraqi army. Many of the Iran-aligned groups continuously cite the fatwa for their legitimacy.
“We emphasize that this weaponry exists to defend Iraq and the Iraqi people and to protect the new political system,” they added.
The spokesperson reiterated that the group will not hand over their weapons to the state, stressing their commitment to the so-called Axis of Resistance and rejection of “American and Western occupation.”
“The Iraqi Harakat al-Nujaba is an active part of the Islamic Resistance axis and an ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the other countries in the axis that reject the American and Western occupation and influence in Iraq and the region.”
“We reiterate that we will not surrender our weapons, as they are the instrument that has protected and continues to protect the Iraqi people from aggression,” they concluded.