ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, has called on the Shiite forces who took up arms against ISIS in 2014 based on his religious decree to come under the command of the official Iraqi military, adding that the state must have exclusive authority over all armed forces.
Sistani, however, stopped short of calling for the Shiite forces to be dismantled following the proclamation of the total defeat of the extremist group this month.
"It is necessary to continue to use the service of this section [the Hashd al-Shaabi] within the legal framework that exclusively puts the arm under the command of the state," Sistani said in a statement that was read by his representative on Friday in the holy southern Iraqi city of Najaf.
The religious leader, whose words are strictly followed by many Shiites followers including politicians in Iraq and across the world, warned against using the "glory" achieved by the Hashd al-Shaabi for political aims.
"It is necessary to protect this high status, and not to exploit it to achieve political goals that will eventually lead this sacred title to have the same fate as other such respected titles," Sistani said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of all Iraqi armed forces, has made similar statements, vowing to bring the Shiite forces under his command.
The Iraqi parliament late in 2016 passed a bill that officially recognized the Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, as part of the Iraqi security forces.
However, the Hashd has its own board headed by the National Security Advisor Falah al-Fayadh, and his deputy Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the Badr organization that operates under the Hashd, stated on Thursday that they believe that their militia fighters and arms must be under the control of the Iraqi state.
Amiri also heads a political organization under the same name. He called on his fighters to sever ties with Badr if they wish to remain part of the Hashd al-Shaabi, fulfilling a requirement under Iraqi law that prohibits members of the armed forces from having political ties, or running in elections. Officials said that he is preparing to announce an alliance to take part in the Iraqi elections scheduled for May 12.
Muqtada al-Sadr, another influential Shiite cleric who heads the Sadr movement, has also called for the Hashd to come under the Iraqi state.
On Friday, Sistani stated that the Hashd fighters and all other Iraqi forces recorded a "historical achievement" against ISIS that secured the protection of the nation of Iraq and its territory. He praised their sacrifices.
Qais al-Khazali, whose Shiite militia funded by Iran joined the Hashd in 2014, stated this week that the Hashd forces lost more than 7,000 fighters since the war on ISIS began, and suffered more than 21,000 injuries.
The Hashd have 140,000 registered fighters which is about half of the Iraqi army, and a quarter of the security forces under the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Khazali claimed.
Sistani said that it is the duty of the state to now take care of the Hashd fighters financially and otherwise, and the families of those who lost their loved ones.
He said that the Iraqi government must also work to bring back services and rebuild the liberated areas that saw destruction in the nearly three-year-old war on ISIS, return the more than 2 million Iraqi people who are still displaced, and to "avoid past mistakes" against the people in these areas.
The Iraqi government, its people and institutions, must now focus on the next phase whose objective should be fighting corruption, something Sistani said is no less important than fighting ISIS, if not more important.
Abadi has also set the fight against corruption as one of the future goals of his government.
Some Sunni politicians, and at least one foreign government, France, has called on Baghdad to disarm and eventually dismantle the Hashd al-Shaabi, a call that was strongly rejected by the Hashd commanders and some Iraqi politicians, including Vice President Nouri al-Maliki.
Maliki, who portrays himself as the defender of the Hashd forces and is already involved in preparing for a coalition for next year’s Iraqi elections, said this week that nobody except for the Iraqi parliament has the power to disband the Shiite force — not even the prime minister — despite the calls from inside and outside of Iraq to do so.
"There is a law for the Hashd. The Hashd cannot be cancelled unless by the power of law. The parliament itself does not allow cancelling the Hashd," Maliki asserted.
Hashd forces have been accused of human rights abuses in the liberated areas, and recently in the Kurdistani or disputed areas that came under their control in October, but are still claimed by Erbil and Baghdad. The force mostly has denied the accusations.
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