US sanctions on a Christian militiaman reignite conflict among Iraqi Christians

BAGHDAD — The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced July 18 new sanctions on four Iraqi citizens, including Rayan al-Kildani, head of the Christian minority's Babylonian Brigades, and Waad Qado, head of the Shabak minority's Brigade 30 — two influential armed factions in the Ninevah Plains. They were sanctioned after being implicated in human rights violations, according to the US Treasury statement.

In related context, the Chaldean Catholic Church announced its refusal of the presence of any armed Christian faction and voiced support for the Iraqi government’s decision to restructure the work of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and reorganize them. On July 1, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued the decision, which consisted of 10 points underlining the need to end the armed presence and link the PMU directly to the general commander of armed forces.

Al-Monitor received a copy of Catholic Chaldean Church Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako's statement in which he voiced his support for the Iraqi government's decision. The patriarch said, “It is an important step in the right direction, and it will restrict arms in the hands of the state and strengthen its institutions. The decision will also cement Iraqis’ national awareness of a united national identity.”

The statement continued, “We encourage Christians to join official security institutions in the Iraqi army and federal police, and Iraqi Kurdistan Region citizens to join the peshmerga forces,” he said, noting that the church respects individuals’ personal decisions to be affiliated with the PMU or political work. However, forming a Christian faction is not acceptable because armed factions in the name of Christianity conflict with the spirituality of Christianity, which calls for love, forgiveness, tolerance and peace.