As can be gleaned from the clerics remarks, the armed Shiite factions are themselves divided on loyalty to Iran. Al-Aalem al-Jadeed newspaper published what appeared to be an official response from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on the matter of a letter from the leader of Liwa’ Ansar al-Marja’iya informing Abadi that Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chairman of the PMU, and reportedly Iran’s most powerful military man in Iraq, had stopped distributing government salaries to armed Shiite factions not connected to Iran. Abadi later ordered an investigation into the salary situation.
Most factions without relations to Iran — including Liwa’ Ansar al-Marja’iya, the Abbas Battle Group, Liwa’ Ali al-Akbar, the Imam Ali Troop and the Kadhimin Battle Group — are affiliated with the Shiite authority in Najaf, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani or Shiite holy shrines under Sistani’s supervision. Sajad al-Rabihi, a cleric fighting in the ranks of the Abbas Battle Group, confirmed the cutoff of salaries to Al-Monitor.
The issue of divided loyalties, between Iran and Sistani followers, among the Shiite PMU militias had been identified earlier by the United States and appears now to have been confirmed by the salary cutoff.
Some observers believe the pro-Iran current within the PMU is trying to seize control and expel those not in line with Tehran from the movement. In addition to news of the salary cutoff, Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organization, which is close to Iran, and some other PMU militia leaders met with former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on June 27. Amiri praised Maliki, saying, “The decision to form the Popular Mobilization Units was Maliki’s. He has strongly supported them since the beginning.”
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