Ex-PM Mustafa Kadhimi says any weapon outside the state is illegitimate

BAGHDAD — Former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said any weapon held outside the state is illegitimate whatever the justification, and that Iraq had been told by the United States and countries in the region that the issue must be resolved because rockets launched from Iraqi territory could threaten them.

“Any weapon outside the framework of the state is an illegitimate weapon, regardless of the reasons or labels,” he told Al-Sharqiya. Failing to resolve it could expose Iraq to difficult circumstances, he said, adding that he hoped the country would not face international isolation. Groups willing to hand weapons to the state should be encouraged and given guarantees allowing them into the political process, and the issue addressed through national dialogue.

He rejected descriptions of the American presence as an occupation, saying U.S. forces returned at Iraq’s request during the war against the Islamic State group and their role now is advisory. Iranian influence in Iraq “is a reality” that rises and falls with regional conditions and Iraq’s internal situation, he said, and Iraqi foreign policy needs reassessing as circumstances change.

On the political system, Kadhimi said it needs review, reform and dialogue rather than overthrow, and that it had produced “authority” rather than a state, with competition focused on power instead of education, health and other functions. He said he had initially refused the premiership and took it in 2020 because he believed the impasse could otherwise lead to civil war, having declined consideration in 2018, and defended his government’s White Paper programme as an attempt to reduce dependence on oil.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said in Washington in July that there would be no justification for armed factions after Sept. 30, and his security adviser Qasim al-Araji said last month that the date marks the start of talks rather than a deadline. Nouri al-Maliki said this month that the term disarmament was not being used because describing the other side as disarmed “has a psychological and practical effect,” and that the better term was regulating or containing weapons.