Walaei ties weapons deal to ‘full and comprehensive sovereignty’

BAGHDAD — Regulating weapons must come in exchange for full Iraqi sovereignty, the head of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada said, restating a position his group set out at length last month.

“Regulating weapons in exchange for full and comprehensive sovereignty: an indivisible equation, and anything else is rejected,” Abu Alaa al-Walaei wrote.

His group set out 10 conditions on Aug. 29, beginning with a complete American withdrawal by land, air and sea. It also wants legislation protecting the rights, salaries and service status of Popular Mobilization Forces fighters, the wounded and the families of the dead; stronger air defences; an end to what it calls U.S. influence over Iraq’s financial, economic and political decisions; and an end to U.S. embassy interference. Four conditions concern the Kurdistan Region: federal forces on all international borders including inside the Region, the army taking over the Region’s crossings, the removal of the PKK from Iraqi territory, the withdrawal of Turkish forces, and Iranian Kurdish opposition groups removed from bases in the north.

He is using the government’s own new vocabulary. Nouri al-Maliki said last week that a committee had been formed with the factions to discuss regulating and containing weapons, with disarmament dropped as a term because describing the other side as disarmed “has a psychological and practical effect.”

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said in July there would be no justification for factions after Sept. 30. His security adviser Qasim al-Araji has since said the date applies to the coalition withdrawal and marks the start of talks, and Zaidi has ruled out confrontation. Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada continue to refuse while foreign forces remain; Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Imam Ali Battalions have moved toward compliance.