US-backed patrols cannot be a third force, says Iraq

Baghdad: The Iraqi government will not tolerate US-backed neighbourhood patrols turning into a 'third force' alongside the army and the police, Defence Minister General Abdul Qader Jasem said on Saturday.

His remarks came a day after one of the most powerful Shiite leaders in Iraq, Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, called for the mainly Sunni patrols to be brought under tight government control and have a broader sectarian makeup. "We categorically reject them [the neighbourhood patrols] turning into a third military organisation," Jasem, a Sunni Arab not affiliated with major political parties, told a joint news conference with Interior Minister Jawad Al Bolani.

"Everybody should know: There will never be a third force. The only two forces are the ministries of defence and interior."

The neighbourhood patrols, made up of some 71,000 men including former insurgents who fought against the United States and Iraqi military, are credited with having helped bring down violence in some of Iraq's most volatile areas.

But the Shiite-led Iraqi government was lukewarm about allowing men it once regarded as enemies to be organised in armed groups. Shiite leaders fear the mainly Sunni men would turn against them once the US forces withdrew.

The United States now pays most of the patrol members about $10 a day, but under US pressure the Iraqi government has said it will take over paying for most of the programme by mid-2008.

Bolani said the government plans to integrate about 20 per cent of the patrolmen into the security forces. Others would be offered vocational training for civilian jobs.

The units cooperate with the Iraqi police and army but there have been occasional incidents of clashes between the patrols and the security forces. In one clash last week, two policemen were killed and four patrolmen were wounded when they fought near the town of Baiji.

Some police officials also say they distrust the tribes which recruit the men to join the neighbourhood patrols. Both ministers, however, praised the patrols as a factor behind a sharp drop in bloodshed.