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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A number of Iraq’s Shiite MPs expressed their strong opposition to a security and administration agreement for Shingal (Sinjar) decided by Erbil and Baghdad during a visit to the disputed district on Sunday.
Iraqi MP Ahmad Kanani along with four other members of the Sadiqoun bloc, a political alliance affiliated with militant Iran-linked Shiite group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, say they have spoken with locals on a visit to the area.
“We are against this deal, and so are the people of Shingal,” Kanani told Rudaw’s Tahsin Qasim on Sunday. “This agreement between Erbil and Baghdad will only end with Shingal boys dying.”
Under the Erbil-Baghdad agreement, the federal government will have to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and their affiliated groups, according to details released in October.
The Sadiqoun legislators insist that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi) units must remain in the area. This comes shortly after the spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operation Command Tahsin al-Khafaji insisted that the PMF would be leaving Shingal as well.
"As per the agreement, all non-official armed groups are going to leave Sinjar," Khafaji told Rudaw English on December 1, stressing this includes the PMF.
Mahmood Al-Araaji, Shingal’s local Shiite spiritual leader, expressed his support for the deal.
He says the deal is significant “in order to return peace and stability to the area and the people can get back to their homes peacefully.”
Leadership from a number of armed groups had until quite recently expressed firm resistance to the deal. However, in late November, the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) agreed to withdraw its forces from Shingal and relocate their forces to Mount Shingal after meetings with Iraqi forces, several local sources confirmed to Rudaw.
YBS is one of some six armed groups currently operating in the area.
A top analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) has advised against the exclusion of the armed groups from decisions about the area's future.
"There are some tensions around this as it will create a new force and this could potentially be a competition with the others. So it will be very important for the implementation of this agreement to ensure that various factions are either integrated into this force or there are other alternatives to them," the ICG's senior Iraq analyst Lahib Higel told Rudaw in October.
Iraqi MP Ahmad Kanani along with four other members of the Sadiqoun bloc, a political alliance affiliated with militant Iran-linked Shiite group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, say they have spoken with locals on a visit to the area.
“We are against this deal, and so are the people of Shingal,” Kanani told Rudaw’s Tahsin Qasim on Sunday. “This agreement between Erbil and Baghdad will only end with Shingal boys dying.”
Under the Erbil-Baghdad agreement, the federal government will have to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and their affiliated groups, according to details released in October.
The Sadiqoun legislators insist that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi) units must remain in the area. This comes shortly after the spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operation Command Tahsin al-Khafaji insisted that the PMF would be leaving Shingal as well.
"As per the agreement, all non-official armed groups are going to leave Sinjar," Khafaji told Rudaw English on December 1, stressing this includes the PMF.
Mahmood Al-Araaji, Shingal’s local Shiite spiritual leader, expressed his support for the deal.
He says the deal is significant “in order to return peace and stability to the area and the people can get back to their homes peacefully.”
Leadership from a number of armed groups had until quite recently expressed firm resistance to the deal. However, in late November, the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) agreed to withdraw its forces from Shingal and relocate their forces to Mount Shingal after meetings with Iraqi forces, several local sources confirmed to Rudaw.
YBS is one of some six armed groups currently operating in the area.
A top analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) has advised against the exclusion of the armed groups from decisions about the area's future.
"There are some tensions around this as it will create a new force and this could potentially be a competition with the others. So it will be very important for the implementation of this agreement to ensure that various factions are either integrated into this force or there are other alternatives to them," the ICG's senior Iraq analyst Lahib Higel told Rudaw in October.
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