Iraq’s top judge says pro-Iran militias will coordinate with state on arms control |
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The head of Iraq’s highest judicial body said Saturday that the leaders of armed factions have agreed to cooperate on the sensitive issue of the state’s monopoly on weapons.
However, the powerful Kataeb Hezbollah group said that it would only discuss giving up its arms when foreign troops leave the country.
“The resistance is a right, and its weapons will remain in the hands of its fighters,” the group said in a statement.
The leaders of three other pro-Iran factions designated by Washington as terrorist groups said that it is time to restrict weapons to state control, although they too have stopped short of committing to disarm — a long-standing US demand.
Faiq Zidan, the head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, in a statement, thanked “faction leaders for heeding his advice to coordinate together to enforce the rule of law, restrict weapons to state control, and transition to political action after the national need for military action has........