Iraq cabinet adopts two bills to bolster national unity

The Iraqi cabinet has approved a draft law that calls for the formation of a national guard, in a move to strengthen unity among different political groups in the Arab country, which has been grappling with a deadly violence fueled by ISIL Takfiri militants.

The draft law, which has the strong support of Sunni political figures, was approved by the Iraqi cabinet on Tuesday, along with a second bill that urges a reform in the government’s policies toward the ex-members of Iraq’s Ba’ath Party.

The first draft law was adopted as “a way to confront ISIL” Takfiri militants, Rafid Jaboori, a spokesman for Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said.

The second bill also calls for the lifting of a ban which deprives ex-members of the Ba’ath party of public services.

“This is significant. These are commitments in the government manifesto,” Jaboori added.

The bills will take effect should they win the Iraqi parliament’s approval.

The ISIL Takfiri terrorists – aided by senior military commanders from Iraq’s Ba’ath party who back slain Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein — have occupied sections of the Iraqi territory.

The ISIL terror group started its campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily-armed militants took control of the city of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.

The terrorists have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against all Iraqi communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.

The Iraqi army, backed by pro-government tribes, Shia volunteers and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, has so far managed to make significant gains in the fight against the terrorists. However, important territory, including three major cities, is still in the hands of the militants.

In October 2014, Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on Baghdad to rush to the aid of the country’s Sunni tribes in their fight against the ISIL Takfiris.

In a statement read out by an aide to Ayatollah Sistani in the holy city of Karbala after Friday prayers, the cleric pointed to the massacre of the Sunni Albu Nimr tribesmen in Anbar Province, saying, “What is required from the Iraqi government … is to offer quick support to the sons of this tribe and other tribes that are fighting Daesh (ISIL) terrorists.”

“This will offer the opportunity to the other tribes to join the fighters against Daesh (ISIL),” he added.

On October 30, the bodies of at least 220 men from the Albu Nimr tribe, who had been seized by the ISIL days earlier, were found in two mass graves.

Sunni tribes such as the Albu Nimr tribe have been also helping the Iraqi army in its battle against the ISIL extremists operating in restive Anbar Province. In response, the terror group has killed hundreds of tribesmen.