Iraq takes over security in Anbar from U.S. troops
Iraq also plans to assume authority over 50,000 U.S.-allied Sunni Arab fighters in Baghdad. The moves will test the Shiite-led government's willingness to back Sunni-led efforts deemed key to peace.
BAGHDAD — In an event touted by President Bush as a sign of U.S. success in Iraq but tinged with evidence of political friction and security threats bubbling below the surface, U.S. forces on Monday handed control of security in Anbar province to the Iraqis.
The U.S. military also said Iraq's government on Oct. 1 plans to assume authority over more than 50,000 mainly Sunni Arab fighters known as the Sons of Iraq and allied with U.S. forces in Baghdad.
Taken together, the developments represent a major shift that will test the Shiite Muslim-led government's willingness to support Sunni-led efforts considered key to sustaining relative calm in Iraq and fostering reconciliation.
The Sons of Iraq program was born in Anbar in 2006 when tribal leaders in the Sunni-dominated province turned against the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq and allied themselves with U.S. forces. They called their movement the Awakening, and their foot soldiers became known as the Sons of Iraq.
Now, there are about 99,000 Sons of Iraq nationwide, most of them Sunnis, many of them former insurgents, and each getting $300 a month from the U.S. military. Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government has vowed to incorporate them into Iraq's security forces or find them other jobs, but Sons of Iraq leaders say Maliki is stalling and waging a campaign of arrest and intimidation against many of them.
Their distrust was evident at the Anbar ceremony.
So was the distrust between Awakening leaders and Sunni lawmakers on the Anbar provincial council, whom tribal chiefs say are corrupt and denying leaders of the security program the political clout they deserve.
In his speech, the head of the Anbar provincial council, Abdul Salam Ani, accused "tribal and political sides" of trying to stir up trouble. "We will not let them," he said.
Another speaker was Sheik Ahmed Buzaigh abu Risha, the Anbar Awakening movement leader who accused the Maliki government of targeting Sons of Iraq for prosecution related to crimes committed before the movement began.
"They should take into consideration their heroic stances against Al Qaeda during the period starting from 2006 and not before this," he said.
He also took a swipe at the provincial council, saying it beat him to the podium, "but they haven't beaten us in taking action, thank God."
