Iraq summons Lebanese ambassador over President's remarks on PMF

Baghdad, April 17 (IANS) Iraq's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Lebanese ambassador to Iraq, Ali al-Habhab, to protest comments by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun regarding the Iraqi paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry expressed dissatisfaction over Aoun's remarks in a recent media interview, during which he dismissed the idea of replicating the PMF model to integrate Hezbollah into the Lebanese army, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mohammed Bahr AlUloom, Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister for Bilateral Relations, said that the PMF is an important part of the Iraqi military security system and is a governmental and legal institution, and part of the Iraqi state system, according to the Ministry statement.

He said it would have been better not to involve Iraq in Lebanon's internal crisis or use an official Iraqi institution as an example in the context.

He also expressed hope that the Lebanese President would correct this statement, in a way that strengthens fraternal relations between the two countries and affirms respect for each country's privacy.

For his part, al-Habhab reaffirmed the depth of Lebanese-Iraqi relations, pledging to convey Iraq's concerns to Aoun and to work to correct the situation, thus contributing to the preservation and development of bilateral relations, the statement added.

According to the Iraqi statement, Ambassador Habhab reaffirmed Lebanon's appreciation for its "brotherly" ties with Iraq and said he would relay Baghdad's concerns to President Aoun.

He also reiterated Lebanon's reliance on Iraq's pivotal role in reconstruction and regional cooperation.

In recent years, Iraq has supplied Lebanon with fuel to help alleviate its electricity shortages, and during Israel's all-out war on Lebanon, Iraq hosted tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese.

The latest diplomatic spat came after Aoun's interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, in which he said that Lebanon would not seek to emulate the PMF model in its efforts to ensure that all arms are under state control.

His comments were interpreted by some in Baghdad as equating the PMF with militias rather than a formal part of Iraq's security establishment.

The PMF, an Iran-backed Shia armed group formed in 2014 to combat Islamic State militants, were later integrated into Iraq's official security apparatus under a 2016 law that recognised them as a state-sanctioned military body operating under the command of the Prime Minister.

In response to the uproar, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani defended the PMF during a public forum in Sulaymaniyah, describing it as "a vital institution and an integral part of Iraq's security system".

--IANS

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