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Baghdad: Despite being considered the third power, after the army and police, some in Iraq are accusing the Sunni awakening forces of being heavily infiltrated by Al Qaida members.
"The Americans realised that their combat with Al Qaida is guerilla warfare," says Abdul Sattar Al Mulla, a prominent officer in the former Iraqi army. "Their decision to form the Sunni awakening forces two years ago was to address losing control of the security situation in Baghdad and other large Sunni cities," he said.
Although the awakening forces consist of 71,000 armed men, the Iraqi government has been reluctant to accept them in the mainstream armed forces. It has also rejected dealing with the entire awakening forces, especially in Baghdad, believing that these forces might be infiltrated by Al Qaida members.
Alwan Abdul Hussain, an officer at the Iraqi interior ministry, says the role of awakening forces in fighting Al Qaida is not taken into account. "The awakening forces take on the first lines in addressing Al Qaida. They contributed in reducing casualties among US and Iraqi forces. We have to recognise the awakening role."
According to sources in the Iraqi intelligence service, channels of dialogue and coordination with Sunni awakening leaders in Baghdad were opening before the current Nouri Al Maliki-led government. Some of the awakening members joined the Iraqi intelligence service. The source added: "More than 90 per cent of US warplane-combat against Al Qaida strongholds and arresting and assassination operations against leaders of this organisation [Al Qaida] are done in support of intelligence gathered by Sunni awakening elements".
But the awakening forces have only had limited success, says Salam Al Bayati, a member of the Supreme Islamic Council. "The awakening forces experience succeeded only in the Sunni province of Anbar, which was beneficial to Americans in reducing the number of casualties from four dead daily to four per week. The Americans must recognise the failure of the awakening forces in Baghdad and Diyala provinces."
Tariq Al Janabi, a member of awakening forces in Baghdad, told Gulf News: "My companions and I are sacrificing for Iraqis' security. We do not care if what we do is in the occupation interest or that Americans are the first beneficiaries of our existence. What matters that we will continue to do what we are doing because it is part of a public uprising against Al Qaida and its devastating effect on our society."
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