Iraqi government says received data on weapons from pro-Iran faction

BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities announced on Wednesday that they had received data on weapons belonging to a pro-Iran faction, a first step in a plan to integrate it and other such groups into the state forces.
The move comes a week after two pro-Iran factions, the Kataeb Imam Ali and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, announced they would be handing over administration of their brigades in the Hashed Al-Shaabi to the state.
The former paramilitary, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), is an umbrella group made up of dozens of armed factions with varying links to Iran.
The government’s security media cell said in a statement that “Lt. Gen. Qais Al-Muhammadawi oversaw the handover of all files and data related to the personnel, weapons, equipment and vehicles that were in the possession of the Kataeb Imam Ali.”
It added that this came “as a prelude to completing the stages of integrating” the members of the faction into state institutions.
Under heavy US pressure, Iraqi authorities have said they would seek the full integration of the member factions in the Hashed into the government forces in a bid to limit the possession of weapons to the hands of the state.
The government aims to include within the integration drive brigades that currently operate outside the framework of the Hashed.
The move came after some of the factions with forces in the Hashed launched attacks on US interests in Iraq following the start of the Middle East war in late February.
The US has also launched strikes on some of the factions, an exchange that has heavily strained ties between Washington and Baghdad.
The Hashed was formed in 2014 based on a religious call to fight the Daesh group, before being integrated into the state armed forces.
On Wednesday, government spokesman Haidar Al-Aboudi said at a press conference that “the state monopoly over weapons will be achieved in a specific timeframe” that he did not disclose.