Iraq: The militia issue not easynote

Sources from the Da’wa Party suggest the Party command does not see how PM-designate Nuri Al-Maliki will settle the militia issue or how to get the militia forces merged into the Iraqi security and military services. The Party’s conservatives think Al-Maliki took a hasty decision by pledging to disband Iraqi militias. They think the issue is not easy. They would rather preferred that Al-Maliki discussed the issue with his colleagues in the Party before bringing it into the open. Note that Al-Maliki is a leading member of the Da’wa Party. Leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani upheld Al-Maliki’s drive to disband the militia forces. However, Shiite sources clarify that Sistani did not mean the Shiite militias only, but also the Kurdish and the Sunni Arab armed groups. The Americans have been putting pressure on Shiite leaders to disband the Badr Briagdes and Army of the Mahdi to ease tension and help the country avoid a sectarian strife. A SCIRI source says the SCIRI command will not stand in the way of getting this issue settled. It has already discussed the issue with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during his visit this week to Baghdad. Note that Badr Brigades belongs to SCIRI, while the Army of the Mahdi belongs to the Sadrists.