Iraqi Prime Minister Directs Preparation of Bill to Centralize Weapons Under State Control

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi issued an order on Tuesday to draft a bill to centralize weapons in the hands of the state, following the government’s ultimatum to armed factions to surrender their arms by September 30 next year.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that Al-Zaidi directed, during a meeting with the head of the parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, Khaled Mutab Al-Obeidi, and its members, to “draft a bill to centralize weapons in the hands of the state, in accordance with constitutional contexts.”

During the meeting, he considered that “the most dangerous threat to the state is uncontrolled weapons, as they undermine the rule of law and weaken the authority of security institutions,” emphasizing “the importance of strengthening the state’s position through its sovereignty, prestige, and constitutional institutions, and enhancing the capabilities of the military establishment to ensure internal stability.”

The Al-Zaidi government is seeking to address the issue of armed factions’ weapons and have them surrendered to the state, amid external pressures on this file. Al-Zaidi has repeatedly called on these factions to “operate under the umbrella of the state” before three groups announced the surrender of their weapons.

In late June, the Iraqi government announced that it would give armed factions until September 30 next year to surrender their weapons to the state, warning that anyone refusing to do so after this deadline would be dealt with in accordance with the anti-terrorism law.

This deadline coincides with the withdrawal of international coalition forces fighting the Islamic State from their last bases in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, with some armed factions linking their decision to surrender weapons to the state to the exit of these forces from the country.