Badge of honor for Iraqi PMU chief to be put on US sanctions list: Bahraini opposition

A Bahraini opposition protest movement has denounced the recent US sanctions against the chairman of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units – better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, saying the sanctions serve as “a badge of pride” for the official.

The February 14 Youth Coalition —named after the date of the beginning of a popular uprising against Bahrain’s ruling Al Khalifah regime, in a statement on Sunday slammed the sanctions against Falih al-Fayyadh as cowardly, and said the move represents an attack on Iraq's sovereignty, national security, as well as its people.

“The current US administration [led by President Donald Trump] knows that Fayyadh is one of the national Iraqi leaders, who protected the Iraqi nation against US and Takfiri terrorism represented by Daesh and its collaborators. He was among those who thwarted Trump's failed scheme in Iraq and the region,” the statement added.

US sanctions on PMU chairman violation of Iraq’s sovereignty: Iraq's Islamic Supreme Council

‘I was not surprised by the unjust decision taken by the US Treasury to put Falih al-Fayyad on its sanctions list,’ said a leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

The February 14 Youth Coalition further noted that recent US sanctions on the PMU chairman denotes the fall of Trump, his Republican party as well as their defeated regional allies.

He, however, added that the sanctions represent a badge of pride for Fayyadh, all PMU leaders and members in addition to the Iraqi Armed Forces.

The Bahraini opposition movement underlined that no future administration at the White House can discourage Fayyadh from continuing his struggle against the US occupation of Iraq, reiterating his solidarity with him and Iraqi people.

The US Treasury Department said in a statement on January 8 it had blacklisted 64-year-old Fayyadh, accusing him of being responsible for a crackdown by security forces on anti-government demonstrations that gripped the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and later swept through several other cities in late 2019.

The rallies erupted as a result of public anger at corruption, mass unemployment and failing public services. Reports say some 550 people were killed and 30,000 injured as the anti-government rallies took a violent turn.

Iraq, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Ansarullah censure US sanctions on PMU chairman

Iraq along with Lebanon

The protests caused then prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s resignation.

Top Iraqi official rejects US sanctions on PMU chairman

Separately, Iraq's National Security Adviser, Qassem al-Araji, has dismissed sanctions against the head of the Popular Mobilization Units, while reiterating that the Baghdad government seeks to resolve lingering crises in the country.

“We want Iraq to be a meeting point [for various parties], and it can actually perform this role. All should realize that Iraq’s interests come before anything else,” Araji said during a meeting with US Ambassador to Baghdad Matthew Toller on Monday.

Toller, for his part, said US Treasury’s measure against Fayyadh was not a wise decision as he is an Iraqi state official and should not be put on the sanctions list.

On March 27 last year, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon had ordered a secret directive, which called on US military commanders to prepare a campaign against Kata'ib Hezbollah, which is part of Hashd al-Sha’abi.

But the United States’ top commander in Iraq at the time, Lieutenant General Robert P. White, warned that such a campaign could be bloody and counterproductive.

Iraqi prime minister hails Hashd al-Sha’abi counter-terrorism efforts

Iraqi prime minister hails Popular Mobilization Units for their key role in defeating the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the Arab country.

Hashd al-Sh’abai fighters have played a major role in the liberation of Daesh-held areas to the south, northeast and north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, ever since the terrorists launched an offensive in the country in June 2014.

Back in November 2016, the Iraqi parliament approved a law giving full legal status to the fighters. It recognized the PMU as part of the national armed forces, placed the forces under the command of the prime minister, and granted them the right to receive salaries and pensions like the regular army and police forces.

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