Senior Iraqi militia leader accused Washington of lacking the will to uproot ISIS; U.S. not serious about fighting radical jihad

Ahlul Bayt News Agency - The head of one of Iraq's fiercest Shi'ite militias called the U.S.-led coalition's campaign against so-called Islamic State ineffective and accused Washington of lacking the will to uproot radical extremist jihadis controlling large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Qais al-Khazali, leader paramilitary group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said the anti-IS campaign had failed because of an American agenda to redraw the map of the Middle East along new borders.

"We believe the United States of America does not want to resolve the crisis but rather wants to manage the crisis," he told Reuters in an interview.

"It does not want to end Daesh (Islamic State). It wants to exploit Daesh to achieve its projects in Iraq and in the region. The American project in Iraq is to repartition the region."

Khazali said the US-led coalition had failed to ramp up the number of air strikes over time as he said it had pledged to do.

Asaib, along with the Badr Brigades and Kataib Hezbollah, are at the forefront of the Popular Mobilisation Committee, or Hashid Shaabi, the official Iraqi government entity organising volunteers in the battle against ISIS terrorists.

The Hashid Shaabi has become the most powerful military force in Iraq since the near collapse of the national army a year ago.

Khazali said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was under U.S. pressure to limit the presence of Shi'ite fighters in the campaign to retake the mostly Sunni province of Anbar from ISIS.

"Now the American project is trying at least to limit the presence of the Hashid Shaabi to the borders of Fallujah and not reach Ramadi. This is the magnitude of the pressure from the American leadership now on the Iraqi prime minister," he said.

Washington and its Arab allies fear that involving Iraq's Shi'ite militias in battles to drive out IS militants from Anbar could lead to even more sectarian violence.

Khazali denied the accusations that in the past few months, there have been violations against Sunni homes by popular mobilization.

"Despite the media whirlwind and exaggeration, no media outlet has been able to accuse the Shi'ite Hashid Shaabi of one (act of) genocide or of killing one innocent citizen," he said.

Khazali was among the thousands of militia fighters, armed and wearing green camouflage military fatigues, who flocked to northern Iraq to battle Islamic State last June after it seized swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq.

The 41-year-old Iraqi donned the robe and white turban of a cleric when he spoke to Reuters at his office in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.

He is now one of the most respected Shi'ite militia leaders in Iraq, and one of Iran's most important allies in the country.

Khazali said mutual mistrust made it impossible for his group to coordinate with the United States.

"We do not agree to participate in any area where there are American strikes. We will place full responsibility on the American administration for any strike that happens under the guise of being a mistake," he said.

"The Americans do not trust us because we resisted them during the occupation. There is no prospect (for cooperation)."




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