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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Iraqi militias to be given official army status, says prime minister

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  • Post n°1

Iraqi militias to be given official army status, says prime minister Empty Iraqi militias to be given official army status, says prime minister

Post by rocky Wed 27 Jul 2016, 12:19 pm

Iraqi militias to be given official army status, says prime minister

Popular Mobilisation Unit fighters will be forbidden from carrying out 'political work' and will be directed by the Iraqi prime minister
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Iraqi pro-government forces gather in al-Shahabi village, east of the city of Fallujah (AFP)
 
Wednesday 27 July 2016 13:21 UTC
Last update: 
Wednesday 27 July 2016 15:07 UTC
Iraqi militias accused of human rights abuses in the campaign against the Islamic State group are to be placed on par with elite army units and subject to military law, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.
The Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs), which have played an important role in seizing back territory from IS, are to be depoliticised and subject to military law, the statement from Haidar al-Abadi said.
The statement stipulates that “politics” would be banned within PMUs, often known as Hashd or Shia militias despite comprising a number of sects.
"Members of the Hashd who are part of this body are to have no links to any political, party political or social framework,” read the statement, released on the English-language PMUs Twitter feed on Tuesday.
“It is not permitted to carry out political work within its ranks.”
A spokesperson for the PMUs told Middle East Eye that the change would put the PMUs on par with the elite Counter-Terrorism Forces who have been deployed against Islamic State in Fallujah.
“We are now under command of the prime minister's office currently held by Haider Al-Abadi,” explained the spokesperson.
Officially, command of the PMUs had up until this point fallen under the remit of Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, a former leader of Kataib Hezbollah, though different militias ultimately followed the orders of their pre-existing leaders.
Iraq analyst Joel Wing described Abadi new initiative on Twitter as "unenforcable". Others commentators [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]that the document was dated from February and had apparently taken months to circulate.
The announcement comes as the Iraqi military and its allies continue to build for the assault against the northern city of Mosul, the last Islamic State stronghold in Iraq.
The role of the PMUs in liberating the city has been controversial - a number of them have been accused of committing human rights abuses and carrying out sectarian retributions against Sunnis.
During the recent assault to liberate the city of Fallujah, the PMUs were prevented from entering the centre of the city for fear of sectarian reprisals. In the end, reports of torture and extrajudicial killings still[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]from the areas where the militias were operating.
While there are Sunni PMUs and one Christian PMU, the militias are overwhelmingly Shia-dominated and a number have links to Iran.
In November, Akram al-Kaabi, leader of the Harakat al-Nujaba militia, said that he would [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] were he ordered to do so by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Other PMU fighters, however, have argued that they are more effective fighters against IS than the regular army as well as less indiscriminately destructive of the cities they liberate.
“Hashd al-Shabi are very clean fighters, very human,” said Abu Ezaaz, government liaison for the Ali Akbar Brigades, using an alternative name for the PMUs, speaking to Middle East Eye in May.
“For example, if some sniper is fighting you, the Hashd al-Shabi will try to use snipers against them, but if the military intervene, the city will be destroyed. If bullets come from a place, they will bomb and air strike that place.”
The PMUs were originally formed in 2014 after a call from leading Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani for Iraqis to fight against IS, following their June takeover of Mosul.
Many in the political establishment fear the growing popularity of the PMUs, who are seen as heroic in comparison politicians who are seen as corrupt and weak.
Mustafa Habib, writing for Iraqi analysis site Niqash, cited numerous militia leaders who had expressed an interest in taking part in the 2017 parliamentary elections.
"The existing Shiite Muslim-dominated political parties can clearly see the danger presented by the wildly popular militias," he wrote.
"Behind closed doors there are already negotiations underway between the political parties and the militias to form alliances, as it is clear that the militias will win many votes in 2017."
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