Jaafari: Iraqi militias fighting in Syria did not get government permission
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari speaks during a news conference.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq has not given a green light for local Shia militias to join Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fight against Islamic State militants and opposition forces, Iraq’s foreign minister Ibrahim Jaafari stressed Sunday.
The existence of Iraqi fighters in the restive Syrian city of Aleppo “does not represent the Iraqi government’s official stance,” Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in press statements at the ministry. He added that “the government had not given permission to anybody, and Iraq does not intervene with the affairs of other countries”.
He, however, noted that “the Iraqi constitution does not prevent Iraqis from travelling anywhere”.
On several recent occasions, Senior leaders of Shia-led al-Hashd al-Shaabi militias assisting the Iraqi government forces in battles against IS in Iraq have expressed readiness to fight on the side of Syria’s government army after the group is totally defeated at home. Many of them, however, said that was contingent on approval by the governments in Baghdad and Damascus.
The United Nations said last week it had reports that Iraqi militias joined Syrian government troops in shooting dead scores of civilians, including women and children, in eastern Aleppo.