Questions surround powerful militiaman Muslih’s arrest in Iraq

Controversial Iraqi paramilitary leader’s arrest could give PM al-Kadhimi impetus before October parliamentary polls.

Baghdad, Iraq – It has been a week since the arrest of controversial Iraqi paramilitary leader Qasim Muslih and the reactionary show of force by members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias formed in 2014 to fight the ISIL (ISIS) armed group. Muslih, the PMF’s head of operations in Anbar province, was accused of crimes under Iraq’s anti-terrorism law and of being involved in the killing of activists – including Ihab al-Wazni, whose murder sparked a deadly demonstration earlier this month. But when the news broke on May 26 of Muslih’s arrest, most Iraq watchers expected the commander to walk free within hours.