Musley was released without prosecution, which was one of many failed attempts by the government to crack down on armed groups.

Iraq released an armed group commander allied with Iran. He was arrested in May on terrorism-related charges after the authorities found insufficient evidence.

Two Iraqi officials stated that Qasim Mahmoud Muslih was released at 8 am on Wednesday (05:00 GMT).

His supporters greeted him with hugs and kisses on the Jadriah Bridge in central Baghdad, and took photos with him to celebrate.

Muslih, from the holy city of Karbala in the south, was arrested on May 26. The military has stated that these allegations are related to terrorism, but did not provide details.

He is the head of the People’s Mobilization Force (PMF) of Anbar Province.

Security officials told Reuters at the time that the arrest was related to the attack on US troops in Iraq. Some media and analysts said that this was because Muslih was suspected of participating in the killing of peaceful democracy activists.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadimi has publicly expressed his opposition to Iranian-backed militias and political parties. The arrest of Musli was a major attempt to control their power.

His release without prosecution was a blow to these efforts and one of many unsuccessful attempts to combat armed groups.

The two most high-profile actions against Iran-backed factions—Muslih’s arrest and the June 2020 detention of fighters suspected of participating in rocket launches against U.S. targets—have not led to prosecution, all arrested Both were released.

In these two incidents, heavily armed militias raided the fortified green area of ??Baghdad, where foreign embassies and government buildings threatened Khadimi.

After Muslih was arrested, al-Kadhimi held a meeting with the main Shia leaders to quell the hostilities. According to the results of the meeting, Muslih was detained by PMF.

An investigative committee composed of officials from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of National Security and PMF was established to investigate his case. Muslih was under the custody of the Joint Operations Command during that time. JOC is responsible for overseeing a series of Iraqi security forces.

On Monday, his files were sent to the PMF investigating judge, who ordered his release.