Tensions mount ahead of Iraq disarmament deadline

As the deadline set by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government to bring all weapons under state control approaches, tensions have risen in Iraq. With some factions doubling down on their refusal to surrender their arms, others have begun to back away from their earlier support for the government’s disarmament initiative. A third camp is seeking to lower the temperature and is urging the authorities not to insist on the end-of-September deadline. Al-Zaidi, however, appears determined to stick to it, even at the cost of his life.

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