Iraq rekindles sectarian rivalry

Its parliament adopts law legalising Syiah militias in fight against IS

BAGHDAD: Rekindling sectarian rivalries at a sensitive time, Iraq’s parliament voted to fully legalise state-sanctioned Syiah militias long accused of abuses against minority Sunnis, adopting a legislation that promoted them to a government force empowered to “deter” security and terror threats facing the country, like the Islamic State group.

The legislation, supported by 208 of the chamber’s 327 members, was quickly rejected by Sunni Arab politicians and lawmakers as proof of the “dictatorship” of the country’s Syiah majority and evidence of its failure to honour promises of inclusion.

“The majority does not have the right to determine the fate of everyone else,” Osama al-Nujaifi, one of Iraq’s three vice presidents and a senior Sunni politician, told reporters after the vote, which was boycotted by many Sunni lawmakers.

“There should be genuine political inclusion. This law must be revised.”

Another Sunni politician, legislator Ahmed al-Masary, said the law cast doubt on the participation in the political process by all of Iraq’s religious and ethnic factions.

“The legislation aborts nation building,” he said, adding it would pave the way for a dangerous parallel to the military and police.

A spokesman for one of the larger Syiah militias welcomed the legislation as a well-deserved victory.

“Those who reject it are engaging in political bargaining,” said Jaafar al-Husseini of the Hezbollah Brigades.

“It is not the Sunnis who reject the law, it is the Sunni politicians following foreign agendas,” said Syiah lawmaker Mohammed Saadoun.

The law, tabled by parliament’s largest Syiah bloc, applies to the Syiah militias fighting IS as well as the much smaller and weaker antiIS Sunni Arab groups.

Militias set up by tiny minorities, like Christians and Turkmen, to fight IS are also covered.

According to a text released by parliament, the militias have now become an “independent” force that is part of the armed forces and report to the prime minister, who is also the commander in chief.

The new force would be subject to military regulations, except for age and education requirements – provisions designed to prevent the exclusion of the elderly and uneducated Iraqis who joined the militias.

The militiamen would benefit from salaries and pensions identical to those of the military and police, but are required to severe all links to political parties and refrain from political activism.

The legislation came at a critical stage in Iraq’s two-year-long fight against IS, a conflict underscored by heavy sectarian tensions given that the group follows an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam and the security forces are predominantly Syiah. — AP