BAGHDAD — The governor of Anbar, Iraq’s largest and arguably most-insurgent-prone province, took office last fall just as the fight against the Islamic State (IS) was winding down. Mohamed al-Halbusi will now have to provide services to the heavily damaged province with what he considers woefully inadequate funding and steer it through the lead-up to parliamentary elections in May, with thousands of residents still displaced or missing.
In an interview with Al-Monitor at his home in Baghdad, he said that he will also have to deal with non-local Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which were instrumental in the fight against IS but which remain despite local sentiment against their presence.