Al-Sistani to Separate from PMU, Join Iraq Government

According to Al-Monitor, troops close to the top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani announced that he will join Iraqi armed forces.

Four brigades close to top Shiite cleric Al-Sistani held a conference on supporting the state against opposition movements from some militias close to Iran.

The final statement came with harsh rhetoric against corruption and militias’ exploitation of the war against the Islamic State.

The four factions are: Liwa Ansar al-Marjaiya, Liwa Ali al-Akbar, Firqat al-Abbas al-Qitaliyah and Firqat al-Imam Ali al-Qitaliyah. They merely asked to get separated from the Popular Mobilization Units and instead be affiliated with the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

The aforementioned factions stated their separation from the PMU and their eagerness to be under the state's control.

The factions' statements were surprising to the remaining armed Shiite factions, which serve under the wing of the PMU or outside it.

An official in the shrine unit stated that they were working to separate organizations that supported Iraq from factions that serve other causes.

"Some of the armed factions inside the PMU took advantage of Sistani’s fatwa to adopt entities parallel to the state entity and forces parallel to its regular troops. They also exploited the capacities of the PMU and its power in political affairs; they were implicated in crimes of corruption and murder."

The shrine factions' official added that the decision to was on the table but it had been delayed due to the murder of deputy head of the PMU, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. However, other militias ignored the shrine unit's demands for fictional interest, especially after the designation of the Kataib Hezbollah leader known as Abu Fadak as the PMU chief of staff.

The official also spoke about “the imminent withdrawal of their forces from the PMU for good, unless the government pay attention to the indications of the shrine units united with Sistani.”

On the other hand, Yazan Al-Jabouri, who leads a Sunni PMU brigade said that our main goal is to liberate our areas from any oppression, and this a dispute between the shrine unit and the pro-Iranian units.

Al-Jabouri added that such disputes threaten the future of the PMU and its effort to fight for Iraq.

The shrine units accused factions that are loyal to Iran and that follow Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of pursuing riches and their interests.

The shrine unit's decision to serve under the Iraqi government came after the association of the four brigades to the Iraqi forces who do not commit any human rights abuses.