BAGHDAD — Iraqi universities have recently become the scene of military and political maneuvers by the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). In a response to this development, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Abdul Razzaq al-Issa announced April 14, "We are determined to remove the heads of the universities who do not maintain the independence that threatens the identity of the Iraqi academic institution. Universities will not be part of political calculations.”
Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, the head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous), made a statement March 18 calling for the establishment of the Popular Mobilization Units University, warning against any possible plot to distance the PMU from the Iraqi arena.
