Iraqi Intelligence Warns Against Militia Merger
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Courtesy Of: ABC News International

June 11, 2006--Baghdad (Reuters)--Iraq's intelligence chief warned in remarks published on Sunday against merging militias with government security forces, saying it would give them an official cover to carry out their activities.

Major General Mohammed al-Shahwani contradicted the position of new Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has vowed to merge powerful militias, which have close ties to ruling political parties, with security forces to get weapons off the streets.

"I have reservations about merging militias into security forces because this is not the solution. The solution is to rehabilitate militia members for civil service Jobs," he said in an interview with Azzaman Newspaper.

..."Merging the militias means giving their activities an official cover at a time that the government and parliament and political powers are working on making government forces the only groups taking over security activities."

...He [Prime Minister Maliki] has warned of civil war if weapons stay in the hands of militias, widely perceived by Iraqis to be roaming hit squads who act with impunity.

The most powerful armed groups are the military wings of ruling political parties such as the Shi'ite SCIRI's Badr Brigades and radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army Militia.

Both parties are in Maliki's Shi'ite alliance.

Sunni Arab leaders have accused Iranian-trained Badr fighters of running death squads, a charge they deny.

But dismantling them will be difficult because they form the powerbase for political parties, and some have already melted into police and security forces.

Although Sunni Arabs do not have recognized militias, the minority community forms the backbone of the insurgency against the U.S.-backed government.

The Kurds, for their part, have a large group pf Peshmerga fighters at their disposal and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has said they should not be considered a militia because they fought against Saddam Hussein.

...Concerned that sectarianism could dominate ministries again in the new administration, Shahwani said security forces should take orders from the prime minister, not from political parties.

And he was equally cautious about intelligence services.

"Any Iraqi has the right to Join intelligence according to certain terms. One of them is that he should not be a member of any party or political movement to ensure the neutrality of the intelligence service."

(Writing by Michael Georgy, editing by Diana Abdallah)

Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2062945&page=1