Al-Rubaie said that besides resenting the League for their unofficial status, he said that many members of the official security forces didn’t like the militia because they travelled around in vehicles with no license plates and carried unlicensed weapons; basically they could do what they liked because they were directly linked to the government
Today there seems to be a League of Righteous office in almost every Shiite Muslim neighbourhood in Baghdad as well as in any Iraqi provinces where the population is mainly Shiite. The League’s offices recruit new members, monitor security and prevent strangers from entering their areas. They also seem to have sizeable financial backing.
The League is the right hand of Iran in this country and it was created by, and is financed by, Iran’s elite fighting corps, the Revolutionary Guard, says one senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “And now the Iraqi government is also paying for the League,” he said. “The government is happy to pay any price to ensure that Baghdad does not fall to the Sunni Muslim extremists.”
There is a political price to pay for this of course. Iraq’s Sunni Muslim politicians have already accused the League of acting more like a secret police force and that they have been killing and harassing the Sunni Muslims of Baghdad.
And it is clear there are political benefits to the League too. Having clashed with the armed group led by Sadr al-Muqtada previously, they now have the Prime Minister’s permission to roam Baghdad’s streets with impunity. They have considerable power, which must irritate their old foe, al-Sadr, who has been a vehement critic of al-Maliki in the recent past.
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