Iraq's PMF-linked Muhandis signs MOU with China's CMEC
BAGHDAD, March 8 (Reuters) - Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said that state-owned group Muhandis had signed a wide-ranging memorandum of understanding with Chinese construction giant CMEC, in its first such publicly-announced agreement with an international company.
The PMF, an Iraqi state security body that includes many Iran-backed armed factions, said in a statement that the agreement envisages joint projects in fields including construction, engineering, trade, services and energy projects.
The statement issued late on Thursday did not elaborate.
CMEC did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
Al-Muhandis was established in 2022 after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani formed a new government with the backing of mainly Shi'ite Muslim parties and armed groups, many of them with close links to Iran.
The Muhandis General Company for Construction, Engineering, and Mechanical, Agricultural, and Industrial Contracting has wide powers to work in many sectors, setting it apart from other Iraqi state companies which usually have a limited scope.
Critics, including western analysts and diplomats, have expressed fears Muhandis will be used to further entrench the power of Iran-backed armed groups in the Iraqi state and could provide a strong new revenue source.
Proponents of the company say it could be an effective tool to help reconstruct and develop a country whose infrastructure has been devastated by years of war, including by drawing on the PMF's thousands of employees and its engineering wing.
The MOU was signed by PMF chairman Falih al-Fayyadh who was sanctioned in 2021 by the United States for human rights abuses during 2019 anti-government protests in which hundreds of people were killed. He has denied the allegations. (Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Alexander Smith)
