The Sairoon Alliance, headed by Sadrist movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr, demanded Dec. 9 that the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) be kept away from political conflicts. “The PMU needs to be isolated and remain independent from psychological disorders and partisan conflicts," Sairoon Alliance deputy Ali Ghawi said. He said that some PMU leaders should be replaced with more effective and patriotic ones and that "all forms of corruption need to be eliminated from within.”
A Dec. 6 incident where gunmen attacked protesters at a square near the Al-Sink Bridge near Tahrir Square in central Baghdad showed the extent of the differences within the PMU, which is divided into two groups. The first is known as the “State PMU” and follows the orders of PMU chief Faleh al-Fayadh and is more sympathetic to the protesters. The other, more dominant one, is more in line with the Iranian Revolution and is known as the “Factions PMU.” It is affiliated with PMU deputy chief Jamal Jaafar al-Ebrahimi, who goes by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and opposes the protests, which have taken on an anti-Iran tone.
