On Wednesday, the release of Qasim Muslih, a leader in the Popular Mobilization Forces, was announced. Conflicting reports emerged on Tuesday regarding the news of his release, as he was accused of terrorism. However, high-level sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the government and armed factions reached an agreement in the case that calls for his release in exchange for halting escalation.
Sources close to the Popular Mobilization Forces indicated that the judiciary "released Muslih due to insufficient evidence," but a government official informed Asharq Al-Awsat that "the decision has not been issued yet... perhaps within days," without denying the correctness of the release.
While sources from the Popular Mobilization confirmed their readiness to welcome the released leader in the city of Karbala, other sources reported that a dispute occurred between senior government leaders and factions within the Popular Mobilization that delayed the release process for later.
As of late last night, the government or the judiciary had not issued any official statements regarding Muslih, nor had the Popular Mobilization Forces' platforms broadcast images of Muslih freely, as is their custom. A political advisor to one of the Iraqi leaders told Asharq Al-Awsat that "everyone has started to deal with an open war between the two sides," pointing out that "the political effort of several leaders was focused on returning the crisis to the moment before Muslih's arrest, when the tension was calculated according to rules of engagement."
Sources from Asharq Al-Awsat revealed that what the advisor mentioned led to "a political settlement between the two parties, driven by an urgent Iranian request for de-escalation." The sources stated that "the settlement requires the Popular Mobilization Forces to completely refrain from storming palaces and government facilities, while Kazemi will back down from targeting major Shiite leaders."
Iraqi security forces arrested Muslih on May 26 under a warrant from the Iraqi judiciary in accordance with counter-terrorism law, which provoked the anger of factions within the Popular Mobilization Forces, leading to the besieging of several sites, including the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.
