The armed wing of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement handed over on Thursday its security responsibilities to the Iraqi army in Samarra city.
The Saraya al-Salam are part of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces and hold security responsibilities in several regions, notably Samarra.
Sadr had announced on May 27 that he was merging the Saraya al-Salam with the state, calling on other PMF factions to follow suit.
Within a week, the Imam Ali Brigades and Asaib Ahl al-Haq factions said they were disengaging with the PMF. Other staunchly pro-Iran factions, the Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba movement, have refused to disarm and dismantle their armed wings.
Head of Iraq's Security Media Cell Lieutenant General Saad Maan said all Saraya al-Salam fighters are now working under the orders of the prime minister, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
State media aired footage of the Saraya al-Salam members lowering their faction’s flag at their operations command center at a ceremony attended by a military delegation dispatched by PM Ali al-Zaidi.
Washington has long wanted to curtail Iran's influence in Iraq, but the start of its war with Tehran on February 28 has given it new momentum.
Iran-backed groups in Iraq have launched numerous strikes against US installations in Iraq since the start of the Middle East war at the end of February.
The strikes have been blamed on pro-Iran groups, against whom the US has retaliated, killing dozens of their fighters.
Washington has in turn put pressure on Baghdad to rein in the groups by suspending security assistance and cash transfers of Iraqi oil revenues.
Qais al-Muhammadawi, Deputy Commander of Iraq's Joint Operations Command, told a press conference that the Saraya al-Salam will now be merged with the armed forces.
The faction has been deployed in Samarra since the 2007 al-Askari shrine bombing. It remains to be seen whether they will quit the city for the first time in 19 years.
A military source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group handed over all of its headquarters to the army and its fighters are now at the command of the armed forces.
Despite these developments, the details of the dismantling of the groups and their disarmament remain vague, said observers. Questions remain over the size of their arsenal and whether they will really turn them over to the government and completely abandon them.
An Iraqi security official said the mechanism for disarmament remains “unclear”, reported AFP.
Local media said an initiative has been proposed for discussion before the ruling pro-Iran Coordination Framework. It includes securing tens of thousands of government jobs in official security institutions for members of the dismantled armed factions.
PMF ‘structuring’
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Sabah al-Numan announced that the committee tasked with imposing state monopoly over arms has kicked off its operations.
He said that “faction disengagement from the PMF calls for the restructuring of formations and ensuring the rights of members.”
This was the first time that the issue of structuring of the formations has been brought up since the PMF’s establishment in 2014. The group was initially set up to fight the ISIS extremist group.
Numan explained that “disengagement” entails “administrative frameworks and the restructuring of these formations within the security agencies, guaranteeing the rights of fighters and merging them with military formations.”
The committee will set up mechanisms for merges and the handover of weapons and military equipment to the official security agencies, he added.
The committee is comprised of officials from the defense and interior ministries, Joint Operations Command and PMF.
What’s next?
Qais al-Khazali's Asaib Ahl al-Haq is expected to follow in Sadr’s footsteps and handover its weapons.
The group, which the US designates a terrorist organization, also forms an important parliamentary bloc with 27 seats. Having refocused on politics, it has distanced itself from Iran and has not taken part in the current war.
A source close to the group said “being part of the government is more important that fighting. So we want to offer the US reassurances.”
The Imam Ali Brigades said it will form a committee to follow up on the disarmament and handover of weapons under the PM’s supervision.
The group has effectively put its administrative control in Zaidi’s hands, said a source close to the factions.
Washington's special envoy for Iraq and Syria, Tom Barrack, has called the disarmament efforts a "significant step forward, which represents the nascent foundation for a renewed Iraqi self-governance". He welcomed the "principled decision" of those groups that are choosing to integrate.
