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Baghdad to pay Sunni Arab groups Iraq remains 'locked in conflict'
(about 8 hours later)
The Iraqi government is to start taking over responsibility for paying members of Sunni Arab groups fighting al-Qaeda. The US defence department says the fundamental character of the conflict in Iraq remains unchanged, despite dramatic security improvements there.
The groups, known as Awakening Councils, have been receiving salaries from the United States. In its quarterly report to Congress, it said Iraq remained locked in a communal struggle for power and resources.
Now 54,000 members of the Baghdad Awakening are going onto the Iraqi government payroll. The Pentagon also expressed concern at the pace at which members of Sunni militias were being integrated into the armed forces or other government jobs.
Some 100,000 armed Sunni men are members of the groups and they are seen as instrumental in reducing levels of al-Qaeda violence. The report identified Iran's influence as the major long-term security threat.
The Awakening Councils are made up of former insurgents and the members' salaries cost a total of about $360m a year. "Despite continued Iranian promises to the contrary, it appears clear that Iran continues to fund, train, arm, and direct SG [special groups] intent on destabilising the situation in Iraq," the report said.
The first councils were formed in the province of Anbar. The US military has increased its reliance on Iraqi troops and its allies among Sunni fighters to take the lead in security operations, which is reflected in the death tolls from the last month.
Local Sunni tribes, who had initially backed the al-Qaeda in Iraq militant group against US forces, turned against it in part as a reaction to its extremist ideology. The number of Iraqi security forces killed in September rose by nearly a third to 159 compared with the same period last year, while US troop deaths for the same period fell by nearly 40% to 25, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Al-Qaeda target Awakening move
class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/7644448.stm">Q and A Iraq's Awakening Councils The report comes on the day that US is beginning to transfer control of about half of the 100,000 local Sunni Muslim militiamen belonging to the so-called Awakening Councils into the Shia-led government.
Awakening fears for Iraq's futureQ&A: Iraq's Awakening Councils "The Multinational Force in Iraq is transferring the responsibility of the [councils] to the Iraq government today," a US military spokesman in Baghdad told the AFP news agency.
The move was announced at the beginning of September. Last week a US commander said the Iraqi government would start paying their salaries in Baghdad from 10 November.
Members of Awakening Councils outside the capital would come under government control at later dates.
"The slow pace of transition is a concern," the Pentagon report said.
Correspondents say the US is worried the Sunni fighters, if they are not given legitimate employment in the government, will rejoin the anti-US insurgency.
The Awakening movement was born in 2005 in Anbar province, when Sunni tribal leaders turned against former allies in al-Qaeda and worked alongside US troops.
The US military subsequently put tens of thousands of them onto its payroll and provided them with equipment and training.
The salary bill is thought to be about $360m a year.
Their successful campaign ousted al-Qaeda from Anbar within a year, transforming the huge western province into one of the most peaceful parts of Iraq.Their successful campaign ousted al-Qaeda from Anbar within a year, transforming the huge western province into one of the most peaceful parts of Iraq.
Awakening Councils are also found among Sunni Arab tribes in Salaheddin, Diyala, Nineveh and Tamim provinces.Awakening Councils are also found among Sunni Arab tribes in Salaheddin, Diyala, Nineveh and Tamim provinces.
More Awakening Councils are expected to follow the example of Baghdad and receive salaries from the national government.
Members have often been the target of attacks by al-Qaeda-inspired militants.
There have been some concerns about whether the Awakening movement can be integrated into the national government or whether it will continue as an alternative source of political and military power.