Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada: We support the al-Zaydi government, but we will not surrender our weapons.
Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada: We support the al-Zaydi government, but we will not surrender our weapons.
2026-05-27 08:33
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The spokesman for the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, Kazem al-Fartousi, confirmed on Wednesday that his faction’s position on the issue of handing over weapons to the Iraqi government is “firm and unchangeable,” noting that “the weapons of the resistance” will remain as long as the reasons for their existence continue.
Al-Fartousi told Shafaq News Agency that “the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades view the support of Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi positively in terms of managing the state and achieving stability, but at the same time they reject the idea of handing over weapons at the current stage.”
He explained that “the resistance’s weapon is not a personal weapon, but is linked to the existence of threats and a continuous danger to Iraq,” adding that “the faction will not hand over its weapon as long as there is occupation and violations that affect Iraqi sovereignty.”
Al-Fartousi also criticized the idea of ”integrating all armed formations directly into the security services,” explaining that “each entity has its own jurisdiction, and any discussion regarding full integration into state institutions is linked to specific security and political circumstances,” as he put it.
Earlier today, the leader of the Shiite National Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced the separation of the “Peace Brigades” from the movement and their joining the state, with the transformation of its civilian formations into official institutions without weapons, headquarters, or organizational titles, stressing that the decision came out of the public interest.
Al-Sadr called on the rest of the Popular Mobilization Forces factions to “move away from partisan and sectarian frameworks and fully submit to the authority of the state and hand over weapons, within the framework of a general trend to restrict weapons to the government and regulate the work of armed formations within official and time-bound mechanisms.”
Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ali Faleh al-Zaidi praised today the position of the leader of the Shiite National Movement regarding the joining of the Peace Brigades to the state and placing them under the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
The Iraqi government is moving towards the issue of restricting weapons to the state within its ministerial program, as the government program included a clear clause on this matter, with an emphasis on forming committees and time mechanisms for its implementation.
Government sources told Shafaq News Agency that there is relative “flexibility” among some forces and factions after previous hardline positions, while steps to organize and hand over weapons are being discussed in parallel with political moves and agreements within the coordination framework.
In contrast, some factions, most notably the “Al-Nujaba Movement,” assert that the inventory measures target “uncontrolled” weapons that cause chaos, and not what they describe as “resistance weapons.”
shafaq.com
