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Iraqi Militias to Disband But Sadr Still Armed
By Luke Baker
(Reuters)
BAGHDAD -- Nine of Iraq's militias, constituting more than 100,000 armed men, agreed to disband on Monday as part of a rewards and retraining program, but the deal does not cover rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's fighters.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced the deal, which will see most of the militia fighters reintegrated into Iraq's new security forces while others are retrained for jobs in civilian life or go into retirement with a pension.
"I am happy to announce today the successful completion of negotiations on the nationwide transition and reintegration of militias and other armed forces previously outside of state control," the prime minister said in a statement.
The deal includes all of Iraq's largest private political armies, including the peshmerga fighters of the country's two Kurdish parties, the main Shi'ite militia and several smaller ones, but pointedly does not include Sadr's Mehdi Army group.
The Mehdi Army launched an uprising against occupying troops across southern Iraq two months ago. Last week U.S. forces agreed a truce with the militia after weeks of skirmishing.
According to plans presented by the U.S.-run coalition in Iraq, some 60,000 former militiamen will have entered the program by July 1, with the vast majority joining Iraqi security forces, about 10,000 going into retirement and others getting new job training or joining private security firms.
A senior coalition official said $200 million, to be administered by Iraq's Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, had been set aside for paying pensions to veterans or to provide jobs, training and education to former fighters.
"To reward former resistance fighters for their service, opportunities have been created for them to join state security services or lay down their arms and enter civilian life," Allawi said in his statement.
"Those who choose to return to civilian life will receive valuable job training and other benefits. By doing this, we reward their heroism and sacrifices, while making Iraq stronger and eliminating armed forces outside of government control."
New Jobs for Militiamen
Coalition officials estimated that 90,000 militiamen would be brought under the reintegration program by the time Iraq holds its first democratic elections in January next year.
But the agreement makes no provision for Sadr's militia, estimated to be up to 10,000 men strong and Iraq's largest security threat after the Sunni-led anti-American insurgency.
By not becoming party to the agreement, Sadr's militia is now officially recognized as an illegal body, officials said, and members of his militia will be banned from holding political office for three years after leaving the organization.
"As of now, all armed forces outside of state control, as provided by this order, are illegal. Those that have chosen violence and lawlessness over transition and reintegration will be dealt with harshly," Allawi said.
The parties that have agreed to the plan include Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress and prime minister Allawi's Iraqi National Accord, both former exile movements.
Iraq's biggest militia is the peshmerga, divided between the KDP and PUK Kurdish political parties, which numbers around 75,000. The Badr Organization, the militia of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shi'ite party, numbers about 15,000, officials said.
Iraq's U.S.-led administration has long been pressing for factional militias to disband, but many groups, particularly Kurdish and Shi'ite parties, wanted to keep their armed wings.
Iraq's interim constitution, agreed in March, outlawed militias and ahead of Monday's agreement, U.S. officials had often said militias were disarming, although it was clear from the presence of fighters on the streets that they were not.
While the agreement may put Iraq on the road to bringing its militias under control, there is not yet any clear process for monitoring and verifying the demobilization agreement.
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