The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd Shaabi, will get the same rights and privileges as the Iraqi armed forces, the KUNA news agency reported.
The Shiite-dominated units, which also include Sunni components, will also be subjected to legislation regulating military service as well as getting access to military institutes and colleges.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi's decree also determined a supreme chief of the PMF and his two deputies, whose title will be set by the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Paramilitary members will be given similar salaries to the members of the military under the Ministry of Defense's control, the decree said. They will also be subject to the laws of military service and will gain access to military institutes and colleges.
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The PMF was formed in line with a fatwa of Iraqi top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani in 2014 to resist Daesh*. The PMU has been accused by rights groups of committing war crimes during the conflict.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia