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PM Barzani: Shiite militias should be regulated

In an interview with Al-Monitor, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani addresses the fight against IS, the rise of the Iraqi Shiite militias and relations with Baghdad.
Shi'ite fighters known as Hashid Shaabi walk as smoke rises from an explosives-laden military vehicle driven by an Islamic State suicide bomber which exploded during an attack on the southern edge of Tikrit March 12, 2015. Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia exchanged fire sporadically with Islamic State fighters in Tikrit on Thursday, a day after they pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants. A Reuters photographer saw one car bomb explode on
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As the battle grinds on against the Islamic State — also known as IS, ISIL and Daesh — there is growing concern about the mounting influence of Iran and Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Units inside Iraq. The Iraqi Kurds, who continue to clash with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad over the sharing of oil revenues, are feeling squeezed. Nechirvan Barzani, the savvy young prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), has played a central role in maintaining the precarious balance between his people, the central government and the big regional powers, Turkey and Iran. The United States has re-emerged as the Kurds’ principal ally in the battle against the jihadists. As the battle to liberate Mosul from IS looms, what are the challenges that lie ahead? Nechirvan Barzani explains in an interview with Al-Monitor in Erbil, the capital of the KRG. 

Al-Monitor:  How is the battle against Daesh [IS] going?

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