ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi Shiite leader Hadi Ameri, who is currently commanding Hashd al-Shaabi fighters in the Anbar military campaign against ISIS militants, has threatened “all parties working to dissolve Iraq.” Ameri’s controversial comments came days after a new bill introduced by Republicans in the US Congress called on the White House to directly arm and assist the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Sunni Arab tribes against the Islamic State. The Iraqi government issued a statement soon afterwards saying that any weapons directed to Kurds and Sunni Arabs would only come through it, and rejected the draft law. “We will not allow anyone to break apart Iraq. We will cut off all hands trying to dissolve the unity of Iraq, and those politicians playing this game have no place in the country,” Ameri said in his statement Monday. The pro-Iranian Shiite commander also claimed that he is receiving daily letters from locals asking for Iraq to remain intact. Another influential Shiite has previously threatened to attack US interests in Iraq and abroad over the congressional provision. In a statement on Muqtada al-Sadr's website Wednesday, the cleric said if the bill was approved he would reactivate his forces and target "US interests in Iraq and even abroad." Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army often battled with US forces between 2003 and 2011. US Vice President Joe Biden has reportedly assured Iraqi Prime Minster Haider al-Abadi that any arms shipments to local forces will be passed through Baghdad. According to a statement released Sunday by Abadi’s media office, the Iraqi leader reportedly expressed his concern over the US congressional provision to send arms directly to Sunni and Kurdish fighters, but Biden said the Baghdad-Washington agreement to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and unity was still in effect. Meanwhile, Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani is currently on a state visit to Washington DC, and his chief of staff, Fuad Hussein, has said discussions on Kurdish independence will be held by Barzani with top American officials.
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