The Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi officially announced that the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) will not be disbanded.
The announcement was made at a speech at a festival organized by one of the PMU groups In response to Muqtada al-Sadr’s demand to disband the PMU.
“It will not be disbanded and it will remain under the leadership of the state and the religious authority,” Abadi said.
Abadi warned from “those who are trying to sow discrimination” and added that “All should not listen to the ugly voices. We will not allow them to take us back to square one.”
“There is unity between the people, our security forces and the state,” he concluded.
Yesterday during a demonstration in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Muqtada al-Sadr called for the disbanding of the PMU saying that “weapons must be exclusively in the hands of the state.”
Al-Sadr called on Abadi to integrate the disciplined PMU elements to the armed forces and to bring the PMU command – that’s governed by law – under the exclusive control of the state and under strict conditions.
Al-Sadr called for “the disarming of weapons from all sides in a fatherly way… while preserving the dignity of the Mujahidees and the resistance.”
Sadr’s demands come only days after his return from Saudi Arabia where he met with several Saudi officials, most notably the Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman.
Since the beginning of 2017, Muqtada al-Sadr has started approaching Saudi Arabia for unknown reasons. Although al-Sadr has a large number of supporters in the Iraqi street, he does not have enough leverage to pressure the Iraqi government to disband the PMU, which became the strongest party in Iraq in the last two years.
This is good news as the US cannot control the PMU and a counterweight is needed against Saudi aggression and disruption. Israel will be pissed as well and that’s a bonus.
Israel is afraid the PMU will turn into a Hezbollah 2.0 (Iraqi edition) – something they want to avoid at all cost. So they are activating all their assets; hence Sadr who appears from under a rock like a cockraoch remotely controlled.
You nailed it! But what do they expect – they subvert and control the national army and expect that no one notices? That was why PMU and Hezbollah came to existence, to make sure that they would not be subverted.
Of course the PMU will not be disbanded! At the rate the Iraqi army is moving this conflict against ISUS may go on for another 2 years? :( I thought both al-Sadr and PMU are both Shia, so he is just playing political games I think. He has no say over PMU, so they are a political threat to him ?
Iraq Elections in 2018,…..the Gangster politicians like Muqtada al Sadr do the BS agenda throw down like the Saudi and GCC did to Qatar recently.
Iraq is Snake pit of dangerous Vipers… US found it easy to by off Saddams Generals, Republican Guard,Baathist. …Barzahni Kurds, Sunni triangle/Al Qeada Wahhabist kooks…
US/Israel will of course play the drama against Tehran and Shia Militias. …as they are the prime target . US/Israel calling Iran greatest regional terrorist is so outrageous. ..it deserves this picture http://smoloko.com/wp-content/uploads/donaldtrumpZionistMeme21.jpg
Sadr is mouthing a narrative that is appealing to S. Arabia, however, PMU cannot be controlled or manipulated by the US. The Iraqi army is still dependent on US weapons for the time being, the time will come when that dependence will be greatly minimized by the infusion of Russian weapons, which are more effective and less expensive.
Yea, thats right, because pretty soon ur gonna have to go after the over-zealous kurds and whats left of isis along the border….
The PMU are the reason the Iraqi’s have made any headway against ISIS , as the US is constantly , “accidentally” working against the Iraqi Army . The jihadists still control a large area of Iraqi desert and a big part of the Syrian border , this is not the time to stop , but rather press on .