Apparently, local officials in Iraq do not know about the Safwan-Terbil road plan so far and that the understandings are restricted to the company and federal government.
A security source from the Iraqi intelligence service told Al-Monitor, “The American company will only secure the two roads reaching Terbil from Basra and Baghdad and will build gas stations and rest areas, in addition to building bridges and cordoning off the roads with barbed wires, as per distances that would be determined later.”
The source added, “The company will appropriate helicopters and will work on providing air protection for the road in case of emergency, in cooperation with the Iraqi government.”
Leaders of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Karim al-Nouri and Rayan al-Kaldani, in a joint statement about the American companies, told Al-Monitor, “These companies signed contracts with Abadi’s government. The PMU is affiliated with him since he is the general chief of staff of armed forces, and we cannot but agree with him.”
Nouri added, “The PMU cannot have a different stance than that of the Iraqi government vis-a-vis the security companies, although they are affiliated with a state that occupied Iraq and so their presence in Iraq is not justifiable.”
Although the stances of Nouri and Kaldani reassured the companies that they will not be targets of the PMU and its factions, the danger persists, especially since there are armed Shiite factions not under the umbrella of the state-affiliated PMU.
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