The Shiite Marja in Iraq Ali al-Sistani is planning to issue a fatwa (religious ruling) to dissolve the Shiite militias in Iraq, days following his meeting with the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Najaf, media reports stated Sunday.
“The Shiite marja will reconsider the issue of volunteering fighters who join the Iranian Militias in Iraq and Syria (IMIS), since the profound reason of their recruit has gone, which is fighting ISIS,” a source at Najaf city, where Sistani is based, told media, without revealing his identity.
During their meeting on Wednesday, Sistani told Rouhani that he, alongside Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi will strip the IMIS down from their weapons, according to the source.
The source added that IMIS suffers from disputes among its leaders, over recruiting more fighters, however, the budget allocated by the federal government for the militia prevents these plans.
“The limited resources made them refer to plan B, which stipulates giving a portion of money for each faction inside the militia to please them,” the source said.
The reports didn’t set a date for the marja’s to announce his decision.