Thursday, October 05, 2006
al-Maliki - militias will disolve themselves
Politics, Security
A political solution must be found to the problem of Iraq's sectarian violence that will lead to militias to "dissolve themselves," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday ahead of talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Enroute to Baghdad on Thursday, Rice underlined that Iraq's leaders "don't have time for endless debate of these issues. They have really got to move forward."
"The dissolution of militia must be through the political powers. There is more than one way leading to a solution, and the militias will dissolve themselves," al-Maliki told the Associated Press during an "iftar" dinner, the meal that ends the daily Ramadan fast. "Militias do not conform with a government. Political parties have militias and they are part of the government and participate in the political process. The parties are required to dissolve these militias," he said.
Al-Maliki has frequently called for militias to be dissolved, insisting that weapons must only be in the hands of national security forces. But Sunni leaders have accused the government of balking at moving forcefully against Shiite militias blamed in much of the violence because of their links to Shiite political parties.
"The dissolution of militia must be through the political powers. There is more than one way leading to a solution, and the militias will dissolve themselves," al-Maliki told the Associated Press during an "iftar" dinner, the meal that ends the daily Ramadan fast. "Militias do not conform with a government. Political parties have militias and they are part of the government and participate in the political process. The parties are required to dissolve these militias," he said.
Al-Maliki has frequently called for militias to be dissolved, insisting that weapons must only be in the hands of national security forces. But Sunni leaders have accused the government of balking at moving forcefully against Shiite militias blamed in much of the violence because of their links to Shiite political parties.
COMMENT: al-Maliki has been under pressure to crack down on the militias, something that was part of his original security plan when he took office but to-date he has failed to deal with the problem, possibly in part due to the fact that al-Sadr's party - who were key to getting al-Maliki in - and SCIRI are both allied to large militias (the Mahdi Militia and the Badr Corps) and he needs their political support. The militias are unlikely to 'dissolve themselves', even with political pressure as some forces are very large and spread across the country with rogue elements who probably won't heed their political counterparts. al-Maliki's reference to the security forces is also interesting as in parts of the country these have been infiltrated by both the Badr Corps and the Mahdi Militia. COMMENT ENDS.
