Iran press/Middle East: "All the Hashd al-Shaabi forces shall operate as an integral part of the armed forces, except for provided in a special text," said the decree signed by Adel Abdul Mahdi on Monday, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces.
It pointed out that "the armed groups that do not join the armed forces can be turned into political organizations, which are subject to the law of parties, and laws and regulations of the political and community work,” Xinhua reported.
Iraqi Popular forces or Hashd al-Shaabi was formed in late 2014 after a religious decision by top Iraqi Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to protect Baghdad and the Shiite shrines in central and southern Iraq from the threat of ISIS terrorists who seized large areas in northern and central Iraq in June 2014, killing and slaughtering thousands of people.
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