Iraqi PM reopened faction arms deal, triggering rupture with Kataib Hezbollah

The latest:

Negotiations over handing in faction weapons in Iraq have hit a dead end after the prime minister took the file from the Shiite committee that had run it for months and reopened the understandings it had already reached, sources close to the talks told Al-Mada. The move angered Kataib Hezbollah, which turned publicly on both the government and the Coordination Framework.

Details:

• The committee: According to the sources, a four-member body had already concluded an agreement with the armed factions. It brought together Hadi al-Amiri, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Nouri al-Maliki, with Humam Hammoudi joining later. The understandings were set down in a signed paper carrying the factions’ conditions.
• The conditions: The sources said the demands went beyond weapons: ending the Turkish military presence and removing the Iranian opposition from Iraq on fixed timetables, alongside reintegrating the factions into state institutions and granting them government and security positions.
• The posts distributed: Abu Alaa al-Walai, barred for months from sitting openly in Coordination Framework meetings, returned through the tourism ministry, the sources said. Shibl al-Zaidi, head of Kataib al-Imam Ali, took the digital economy ministry, the atomic energy authority and a seat inside the Framework’s group of 12.
• Asaib Ahl al-Haq: The group obtained the labour ministry plus a deputy prime minister post for Laith al-Khazali, according to the sources. Brothers Qais and Laith al-Khazali were both placed on United States terrorism lists in 2020.
• The American track: Sources close to the prime minister said he interceded with US envoy Tom Barrack, who persuaded Donald Trump to lift sanctions on the groups. That opening allowed factions previously blocked from government office to take positions inside the state.
• The rupture: A Coordination Framework member said the sanctions breakthrough gave the prime minister room to take over direct negotiations after 30 September. Another Framework member said he then refused the terms the factions, especially Kataib Hezbollah, had settled with the four-member committee.
• The list: Leaks cited by the sources describe a long roster Kataib Hezbollah sought: border crossings, the border guard, and investment commissions in Basra, Baghdad, Karbala, Muthanna and Najaf, plus 5 deputy minister slots and 32 director-general posts.
• Security positions: The same leaks list posts inside the defence and interior ministries and in the intelligence and national security services. The sources said talks turned into a bargain over the factions’ share of the state, with the group seeking those posts without a clear disarmament tradeoff.
• Shadow factions: Leaked information suggests Kataib Hezbollah may freeze its armed activity temporarily under an Iranian decision, after smaller replacement groups known as the shadow factions were formed. Those groups attacked Saudi Arabia in September and launched a drone toward the Green Zone last week.
• The denial: Kataib Hezbollah denied responsibility for the drone, attributing it to parties it described as “friends of America” and saying it had stopped armed operations. Its statement also opened a verbal confrontation with the Coordination Framework over government, security and political files.

Between the lines:

The dispute no longer reads as a technical disagreement over weapons. The signed paper, the ministries already handed out and the roster of border, investment and security posts suggest the real currency was state share rather than disarmament. The reported freeze and the emergence of replacement groups point to armed capability being relocated rather than surrendered.

What’s next

Watch whether the four-member committee regains the file, whether the disputed deputy minister and director-general appointments proceed, and whether further drone launches follow the Green Zone attempt.