The Iraqi government has received numerous requests from various international and regional entities to disband the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and surrender their weapons, according to sources who spoke anonymously in an interview with Al-Akhbar on Sunday.
A source informed the Lebanese newspaper about the two visits made by Mohamed Al Hassan, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, to Najaf for meetings with Ayatollah Sistani.
The purpose of the second visit was to ask Ayatollah Sistani to issue a religious order (fatwa) regarding the separation and dissolution of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or its integration with other security ministries, the source said, adding that this request was significant because Ayatollah Sistani's previous fatwa was instrumental in forming the PMF. However, the prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, declined to meet with the UN Secretary-General's representative.
The source, who is close to the Iraqi government, said that the demand for the dissolution of the Popular Mobilization Forces is driven by Western interests, noting that these kinds of issues are not new, particularly being raised by the United States, which has consistently expressed its dissatisfaction with Iraqi resistance groups.
The other Iraqi source reported that Ayatollah al-Sistani met with Mohammed al-Hasan for the first time to discuss the regional situation and Iraq's interests.
In the second meeting held a few days ago, Ayatollah al-Sistani declined to meet with the UN Secretary-General's representative. Instead, he sent his son Mohammed Ridha al-Sistani, to welcome him.
According to the source, this indicates that during the first meeting, the UN envoy urged Ayatollah al-Sistani to consider dissolving the Popular Mobilization Forces, noting that Ayatollah al-Sistani chose not to meet with al-Hasan during the second visit suggesting his opposition to this proposal.
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