Friday, September 22, 2006
U.S. military - Shia militias earning $500,000 a day
Security
Shia militias behind widespread sectarian killings in Baghdad are earning at least £500,000 a day through criminal enterprises, the US military believes. This enables them to buy loyalty by funding social welfare programmes, purchase weapons and pay salaries to militiamen. Although it was known that the Shia militias were closely linked with crime, this is the first time that the scale of the their financial resources has been detailed. Lt Col William Brown, an intelligence officer whose job is to monitor the militias in east Baghdad, estimated that Shia groups raised at least $1 million (£530,000) a day through organised crime. The money came "especially from kidnappings, extortion, black marketeering and blackmail".
Lt Col Brown said that of particular concern was the control of many petrol stations by members of the Mahdi army, the militia of Moqtada al-Sadr, whose political allies control the ministry of transport. The Mahdi army is the largest and most powerful of the Shia militias in Baghdad, with an estimated 10,000 members.
The US military is monitoring 20 militias operating in the city. They have recently grown stronger as they provide security to residents at a time of rising religious violence. At the same time they are accused of conducting many tit-for-tat sectarian killings.
American officials said that trying to prevent militia killings was hampered not only by the cash available to them but also because a number of them had recently fragmented into smaller, rival groups. Sadr's control over his militiamen seems to be weakening, with reports of a number of his followers operating independently.
American concern has focused on one of his former lieutenants known by the nom de guerre Abu Dereh (Father of the Shield). Abu Dereh is accused of abducting scores of Sunnis and depositing their bodies at al-Sada, a rubbish tip near the Baghdad Shia slum of Sadr City. His preferred method of murder is by crushing skulls with cinder blocks.
Lt Col Brown said that of particular concern was the control of many petrol stations by members of the Mahdi army, the militia of Moqtada al-Sadr, whose political allies control the ministry of transport. The Mahdi army is the largest and most powerful of the Shia militias in Baghdad, with an estimated 10,000 members.
The US military is monitoring 20 militias operating in the city. They have recently grown stronger as they provide security to residents at a time of rising religious violence. At the same time they are accused of conducting many tit-for-tat sectarian killings.
American officials said that trying to prevent militia killings was hampered not only by the cash available to them but also because a number of them had recently fragmented into smaller, rival groups. Sadr's control over his militiamen seems to be weakening, with reports of a number of his followers operating independently.
American concern has focused on one of his former lieutenants known by the nom de guerre Abu Dereh (Father of the Shield). Abu Dereh is accused of abducting scores of Sunnis and depositing their bodies at al-Sada, a rubbish tip near the Baghdad Shia slum of Sadr City. His preferred method of murder is by crushing skulls with cinder blocks.
