Shafaq News..Al-Khazali: Weapons-control plan does not apply to Peshmerga

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Asaib Ahl Al-Haq
Secretary-General Qais Al-Khazali argued on Thursday that Iraq’s push to bring
weapons under state control does not apply to the Peshmerga as an institution.

In an interview with Al-Iraqiya
News, Al-Khazali reasoned that its recognition under Iraqi law and the
Constitution places it outside the scope of the initiative. He nevertheless
maintained that full state sovereignty requires the Peshmerga to operate under
the authority of the commander-in-chief.

Article 121 of the
Constitution allows federal regions to establish and organize internal security
forces, including regional guards, a provision Kurdish officials who spoke to
Shafaq News cite as the legal basis for the Peshmerga and its distinct status
from the armed factions at the center of the debate.

Read more: Iraq’s weapons debate ensnares the Peshmerga

Al-Khazali backed restricting
weapons to official institutions, pointing out that Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s arms are
already integrated into the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state-linked
paramilitary umbrella, stressing that fighters entering government security
bodies should sever their political and partisan affiliations.

The Shiite Coordination
Framework (CF), the largest bloc in parliament, unanimously supports the plan,
according to Al-Khazali, though he linked its implementation to addressing the
circumstances that originally drove armed groups to operate outside government
structures, “including the occupation and the war against ISIS.”

The State Administration
Coalition has set Sept. 30 as the deadline for completing the process, the same
date scheduled for the end of the US-led Coalition’s military mission in Iraq.

Read more: Tension meets dialogue as Iraq approaches September 30