Kataib Hezbollah urges ‘caution’ on weapons handover, vows not to disarm

BAGHDAD — A senior Kataib Hezbollah official on Thursday offered conditional encouragement to armed groups transferring weapons to state control while making clear the faction itself would not disarm, warning against internal discord and blaming the United States for attempting to “stir discord among the people of the same country.”

In a statement issued for Eid al-Ghadir, security official Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said groups handing over weapons had not been “engaged in the ranks of the Islamic Resistance and had not targeted the American enemy even with a stone for a long time,” effectively dismissing the significance of their compliance. He said their decisions “do not relate to the Islamic Resistance either directly or indirectly.”

Al-Assaf said Kataib Hezbollah and what he described as five other factions of the Islamic Resistance, along with Kataib Karbala, would remain united and continue “carrying out their duties as long as there is occupation of the land, violation of the airspace and confiscation of political decision-making.”

He added: “After the liberation of the country, God willing, we will sit down to organize the tasks of our sacred weapons, and we affirm that we organize these weapons, but we will not hand over even a single pistol round except to the Awaited Imam” — a reference to the Mahdi, the messianic figure in Shiite Islam whose return is believed by adherents to be a future event.

Despite that position, al-Assaf said the faction “encourages” compliant groups to accelerate their handovers and urged all sides to avoid “voices of discord.” He warned parties involved in the process and media professionals against “falling into the traps of the American enemy.”

The statement came as Iraq’s government moved forward with implementation. Earlier Thursday, ceremonies began in Samarra to transfer responsibility for Saraya al-Salam positions to the Samarra Operations Command, the first publicly announced step in the integration process. The developments follow the Coordination Framework’s June 1 decision authorizing Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to implement weapons restriction and PMF separation from political affiliations. Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Imam Ali Battalions have all announced compliance measures.

Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada remain opposed. The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has offered up to $10 million each for information on leaders of the latter two factions, as well as Kataib Hezbollah’s own Ahmad al-Hamidawi.