At least 30,000 former members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi are to be reinstated and receive their salaries, the paramilitary coalition that helped defeat the Islamic State group announced Monday.

The announcement, which came weeks before the country's October 10 parliamentary elections, follows months of demonstrations by ex-members whose jobs had been terminated.

Ahmad Assadi, a leader of Hashed's bloc in parliament, said in a statement the finance ministry had give the green light for the reintegration of 30,000 members into the force, which operates formally under the umbrella of Iraq's security apparatus.

Most of them had been sacked between 2015 and 2018, Assadi told AFP, with absenteeism the most common cause.

Hashed al-Shaadi, set up in 2014 to back up the Iraqi army, has more than 160,000 members and is comprised of dozens of mostly pro-Iran Shiite groups.

Faleh al-Fayyad, a senior Hashed official, said on television that the organisation would use its own funds to finance the rehiring operation and urged the government to re-enrol others who had been laid off.

Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

German prosecutor to head UN probe into IS crimes in Iraq
United Nations, United States (AFP) Sept 7, 2021
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday appointed German prosecutor Christian Ritscher as head of the UN team investigating crimes committed by the Islamic State group in Iraq. Ritscher succeeds Karim Asad Ahmad Khan of Britain, who was sworn in as prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in June. The UN team aims to support the government of Iraq in its indictment of IS members by collecting, preserving and storing evidence that may amount to war crimes, crimes agains ... read more