Iraqi parliament passes contested law on Shi'ite paramilitaries
Source: Reuters
Iraq's parliament approved a law on Saturday that will transform Popular Mobilisation forces, a mostly Iranian-backed coalition of Shi'ite militias that played a role in fighting Islamic State, into a legal and separate military corps.
Disagreements over the paramilitary units are complicating efforts to pull Iraq together as forces battle to defeat Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that overran a third of the country in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" that spans parts of Syria.
All the Shi'ite blocks in parliament voted for the bill in a session boycotted by lawmakers from the Sunni minority who object to the existence of armed forces outside the army and police.
Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi in Arabic, was accused of abuses against Sunni civilians in towns and villages retaken from Islamic State, according to international human rights groups and the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-military-idUSKBN13L0IE
WORLD NEWS | Sat Nov 26, 2016 | 8:40am EST
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