Iraq militias 'agree to disband'.

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Registered: 03-18-2000
Iraq militias 'agree to disband'.
Mon, 06-07-2004 - 7:16am

Iraq's new Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, says he has reached a deal to disband militias that opposed Saddam Hussein.


 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3782787.stm


About 100,000 fighters will either join the security forces or return to civilian life, Mr Allawi said.

However the pact does not cover the Mehdi Army militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and observers say it is unlikely to affect the uprising.

As the deal was unveiled, blasts rocked a mosque in Kufa near where US-led forces have been battling the militia.


Explosions rocked the compound surrounding the mosque in the holy city, after ammunition used by fighters loyal to Mr Sadr apparently caught fire, witnesses said.

A spokesman for the US military said there were no US forces near the mosque at the time.

New pressure

Nine political factions - most of them represented in Mr Allawi's interim cabinet - agreed to disband their associated militias by January 2005, when elections are due.


They include the Kurdish peshmerga militias and the Badr Brigade of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shia group.

But it does not cover the Shia Muslim Mehdi Army - fighting US-led forces in bloody battles around Kufa and other cities, including Najaf - or Sunni insurgents in central Iraqi cities like Falluja.

"As of now, all armed forces outside of state control, as provided by this order, are illegal," the prime minister said.

"Those that have chosen violence and lawlessness over transition and reintegration will be dealt with harshly."

The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Baghdad said the announcement was designed to signal the new government's intention to put pressure on the militants.

Foreign-backed attacks

Mr Allawi's statement followed more violence at the weekend, attributed to foreign militants.

At least six Iraqis were killed and dozens were injured by a car bomb blast outside the gates of a US base at Taji, north of Baghdad.

Two Americans and two Poles were killed on Saturday in another incident.

Both attacks were claimed by a group led by suspected al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

At least 12 Iraqis and one Briton also died in separate attacks.

Mr Allawi has said the US-led multinational force is crucial to maintaining security in Iraq after the transfer of sovereignty on 30 June.

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