Shiite consensus: Factional weapons to be transferred to Popular Mobilization Forces depots following the passage of the service and retirement law.
Shiite consensus: Factional weapons to be transferred to Popular Mobilization Forces depots following the passage of the service and retirement law.
2026-08-23
Shafaq News – Baghdad
A source within the coordination framework revealed on Sunday that there is an agreement among the leaders of the “Shia House” on the need to finalize the service and retirement law for members of the Popular Mobilization Forces within the House of Representatives before the end of next September, in parallel with arrangements related to the management of the weapons of the armed factions.
The source told Shafaq News Agency that “the leaders of the coordination framework agreed, during meetings and mutual communications, on the need to complete the amendments related to the clauses of the Popular Mobilization Forces Service and Retirement Law quickly, and refer it to the House of Representatives to proceed with it according to the official procedures adopted in legislating laws.”
He added that “the draft law had previously undergone its first reading during the government of former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, before the government withdrew it to make legal amendments to a number of its articles, in order to guarantee the rights of the Popular Mobilization Forces members.”
According to the source, the amendments focus on “addressing the issue of ranks and career progression, the rights of martyrs and the wounded, and the mechanism for dealing with affiliates who have exceeded the legal retirement age, including the head of the commission, as well as determining the general structure of the mobilization and the number of brigades and their leaders.”
He pointed out that the amendments also include “addressing the situation of people who were included in the ranks of the Popular Mobilization Forces and participated in the battles to recapture the provinces and cities from ISIS in 2014, even though some of them were under the legal age limit adopted at that time.”
The source added that “there is an emphasis on the team within the framework tasked with reviewing the law to expedite its work and complete the amendments as soon as possible, in preparation for passing the project before the scheduled date for the withdrawal of US forces from their bases.”
He explained that the law will be referred in the coming days to the Security and Defense and Legal Committees in the House of Representatives, to study it and complete the necessary procedures to present it again for reading and voting.
The source confirmed that there was “political and parliamentary consensus to pass the law, in appreciation of the sacrifices made by the Popular Mobilization Forces during the battles to liberate cities from ISIS, and the continued loss of lives among their ranks during security operations against terrorist cells.”
A few days ago, Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi confirmed that the Popular Mobilization Forces enjoy the attention and care of the government, which will proceed with submitting the Popular Mobilization Forces Law for approval, as it is part of the formations and branches of the armed forces.
Regarding the issue of weapons belonging to the factions, the source revealed a political agreement stipulating that “any weapons handed over by the factions will not be transferred to the warehouses of any other security agency, but rather to the warehouses of the Popular Mobilization Forces, even if the operation is carried out in the presence of representatives from the Ministries of Interior and Defense or the Counter-Terrorism Service.”
He added that this understanding comes within what he described as “managing the weapons of the factions,” in coordination with the Iraqi government, with the process of transferring weapons to the Popular Mobilization Forces’ warehouses to begin after the completion of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and the approval of the service and retirement law specific to the organization.
The source concluded by saying that “any talk of different measures before these two conditions are met is nothing more than an attempt to disrupt the existing understandings.”
Earlier, Shafaq News Agency reported that prominent Shiite leaders presented a package of proposals to the leaders of the armed factions to contain the escalation with Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi, which included replacing the concept of “disarmament” with the formula of “weapons management,” subjecting its use to the orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, in addition to separating the time between the withdrawal of American forces and the start of the implementation of the arms control arrangements.
Later, the Iraqi government reaffirmed on Tuesday that the deadline for restricting weapons to the state is set for September 30, noting that the government had informed the armed factions of the date and the mechanisms for dealing with the issue.
According to government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi, six armed factions involved in the government dialogue on restricting weapons have responded and dealt positively with the government’s proposals, while other factions are still engaged in ongoing dialogues to reach an agreement on mechanisms that guarantee their interests and the interests of the state and the country.
The issue of armed factions is one of the most sensitive issues facing the Iraqi government, with the approach of September 30, which the main political forces have set as the deadline for restricting weapons to official institutions.
The September 30th date also coincides with the deadlines related to ending the military presence of the international coalition in Iraq, which some factions use as a basis for linking the future of their weapons to the withdrawal of foreign forces.
shafaq.com
