BAGHDAD -

With the wheel of negotiations moving between the winning forces in the Iraqi elections to form the new government, the file of "uncontrolled weapons" has come back to the fore with force, and the scene of the talks has come to the fore. And medium and even heavy owned by the factions outside the control of the state.

The new plan, called "Transformation or Gradual Transition", to address all economic, political and security issues and problems, including confining arms to the hands of the state, was proposed by Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement - the bloc that won 73 seats according to the preliminary results and is in the lead - and intends to include it in the government program which the new parliament will vote on.

Al-Sadr enjoys popularity that enabled his current to be at the forefront of the primary election results (Reuters)

Freezing Saraya Al Salam

After announcing the victory of the Sadrist bloc with the results of the parliamentary elections and obtaining the first place, al-Sadr called in a televised speech on this occasion for the necessity of confining weapons to the hands of the state and preventing their use outside this scope, in order for the Iraqi people to live in peace without militias that detract from the prestige of the state.

Al-Sadr was not satisfied with this;

Rather, he issued a surprising decision after the elections, specifically on the 13th of this month, to freeze the work of Saraya al-Salam in the provinces of Babil and Diyala at all levels without explaining the reasons, which was understood as the beginning of a process for steps to control weapons.

Commenting on the decision to freeze Saraya al-Salam, the former deputy of the Sairoon bloc of the Sadrist movement, Riyad al-Masoudi, explained to Al-Jazeera Net that the decision to freeze the brigades came for internal organizational reasons that have nothing to do with the procedures for restricting the guerrilla arms and unofficial bodies in the hands of the state and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

After the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, many armed groups loyal to powerful political forces backed by regional countries carrying weapons appeared and worked in the Iraqi arena, but what is remarkable is the enlargement of the role of these groups or militias during the past years, and they now possess light, medium and even heavy weapons. .

On paper, the task of confining arms to the state is almost a thorny and complex matter, because this weapon has become a platform for political and economic gain for powerful and powerful political and non-political forces and parties, in addition to receiving great logistical support from abroad.

According to Al-Masoudi, in his last speech, Al-Sadr intended the weapon of gangs, clans, and armed factions, and any party that carries weapons and moves without the knowledge or permission of the government or the General Command of the Armed Forces, stressing that the process of limiting weapons within a strategy will be part of an integrated program for the next government called “ transition or gradual transition" in all cases.

Al-Masoudi indicated that the idea of ​​limiting weapons comes within a comprehensive plan for Al-Sadr to address many issues (Al-Jazeera Net)

Millions of pieces

Despite the promises made by the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, and the governments that preceded him, to pursue loose weapons and confine them to the hands of the state, they were unable to do so due to the rejection and opposition of the forces controlling the political scene, and these factions were considered part of the Popular Mobilization Authority that is affiliated with the Iraqi armed forces.

But the plan developed by al-Sadr, which is a gradual transition to address many issues, including the value of the Iraqi dinar, border crossings, investment, government building and constitutional amendments, preserving the prestige of the state and disarmament, will be among deliberate steps, according to the former deputy.

He added that the first stage is based on the numbering of all weapons and placing them in special stores belonging to the state, accompanied by entrusting the task of maintaining security inside the cities exclusively to the Ministry of the Interior, with the removal of the army forces and assigning them the task of securing the land, sea and air borders, believing that this step will prevent any force from entering the cities. Except for the Interior Ministry forces.

He revealed that there are about 10 million weapons of the type of pistols, rifles, RPG launchers and mortars that are currently outside the control of the state, indicating that the Sadrist movement's plan is trying to track this weapon, reach it and confine it to the hands of the state.

Al-Shammari: The Iraqi constitution prohibits the formation of military militias or that weapons be outside the framework of the state (Al-Jazeera Net)

Difficult to disassemble

Regarding the calls for disarmament and the new plan, the head of the Center for Political Thinking, Ihsan Al-Shammari, commented to Al-Jazeera Net, saying that the process of inventorying weapons is the responsibility of the government, which carried out previous campaigns for disarmament, but did not reach a certain result, believing that the issue requires the availability of political will from all parties, especially those which have armed factions.

He adds that the Iraqi constitution prohibits the formation of military militias outside the framework of the state, and members of the military forces in all ministries and security institutions may not run for elections or support certain parties.

But despite this, the capital, Baghdad, often witnesses military parades of these armed groups, with their light, medium and heavy weapons, without accountability by the concerned authorities in the state.

On how to disband and dispose of this weapon, Al-Shammari explained that the weapon has become part of the political doctrine and a space for influence, and therefore it is difficult to dismantle it, considering Al-Sadr's calls to confine weapons to the state's hand to set general steps for drawing up the government program and presenting it to the new government that will be formed by his bloc.

The head of the Thought Center added that this weapon has an ideological aspect that may complicate matters, especially since these calls came simultaneously with calls to dissolve or integrate the Popular Mobilization, considering that these calls will be provocative to political parties that have armed wings or factions.

Al-Barzanji considered that Al-Sadr does not represent all Iraqis, so he has no right to propose a plan to disarm the factions except in agreement with others (Al-Jazeera Net)

Executing the plan is impossible

For his part, the researcher in political affairs, Haider Al-Barzanji, commented on Al-Sadr's proposal for the arms inventory plan for Al-Jazeera Net, by saying that Al-Sadr does not represent all Iraqis, but rather represents a part of them, wondering about the capacity through which Al-Sadr can implement the arms inventory procedures.

He added, "And what about the Peace Brigades and the Promised Day Brigade of the Sadrist movement? Will it withdraw and confine their weapons?"

Al-Barzanji called on al-Sadr to present his plan to disarm and limit weapons to the new government in order to deal with this matter, because he does not have a judicial or governmental capacity to implement it, describing his calls for disarmament as "a public, regional and international political discourse that does not represent the Shiite spectrum."

He pointed out that implementing the arms control is almost impossible, because Al-Sadr or others cannot dissolve or integrate the Popular Mobilization, because it is part of the state and has a special law regulating its work, indicating that Al-Sadr's calls to limit arms are his own opinion.