Asaib Ahl al-Haq forms committee to sever ties with PMF bodies in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Asaib Ahl al-Haq said it has formed a central committee to begin procedures for cutting links with Popular Mobilization Forces bodies in Baghdad. The group said the step is in line with a call from the religious authority, a decision by the Coordination Framework, and Secretary-General Qais al-Khazali’s position on confining weapons to the state. The committee will be headed by Jawad al-Tilbaawi. Rafid Saleh Ali, Abdullah Shakir Kamil and Ali Hamza Kazem were also named as members. According to the statement, the committee will count personnel, weapons, vehicles and logistical equipment, and will regulate mechanisms for contact with the commander in chief. The Coordination Framework said a day earlier that it had authorized Prime Minister and commander in chief Ali Zaydi to take decisions and steps it sees as protecting the country’s higher interests. It also expressed support for a project to confine weapons to the state and separate the PMF from political, party and social structures.