Report: Hezbollah Brigades and Nujaba reject government deadline on weapons

Efforts by Iraq’s Coordination Framework to find a negotiated solution for the weapons held by armed factions have run into a firm refusal to surrender them, according to a report cited by Alsumaria.

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The sacredness of the resistance’s weapons.

After weeks of talks led by a three-member committee comprising Nouri al-Maliki, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Hadi al-Amiri, there has been no sign of agreement on the principle of handing over weapons. Political discussions are instead moving toward “regulating and containing” them, a formula presented as more realistic and less likely to push the country toward a confrontation threatening its political and security stability.

The political council head of Harakat al-Nujaba, Ali al-Asadi, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to what he called the “sacredness of the resistance’s weapons.” He also defended the Popular Mobilization Forces as a national body that cannot be touched. The report said Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah leaders rejected the September 30 deadline set by the weapons committee, arguing that it could not determine the future of their military capabilities.

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A national body that cannot be touched.

A meeting involving the government, security agencies, the Coordination Framework, the Popular Mobilization Forces and faction representatives is being prepared. Its stated aim is to ease tensions and find common ground before the deadline. Contacts have reportedly shifted toward options including regulation or a freeze, allowing the date to pass without an internal clash.

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There is a political aspect, and they are right about it, and a jihadist aspect that the factions should continue until the remnants of the occupation are removed from the country.

A Nujaba leader said the committee had political weight but could not compel the resistance factions to surrender their weapons. Lawmaker Falih al-Khazali likewise rejected describing the factions’ arms as outside the state, calling them national weapons that defended Iraq. Security expert Basim Samir said an agreement by September 30 was increasingly uncertain and that political and security conditions could push the parties away from confrontation.

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Resistance weapons are national weapons, and they defended Iraq in its darkest circumstances.