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Iraq vows to disband Sunni groups
Iraq's government has declared that it will disband Sunni groups battling al-Qaeda in Iraq after violence-wracked areas are calmed because it does not want them to become a separate military force.
The statement on Saturday from Abdul-Qadir al-Obaidi, the Iraqi defence minister, was the government's most explicit declaration yet of its intent.
The Sunni awakening councils, or Concerned Local Citizens, are backed and funded by the US as a vital tool for reducing violence.
The militias are more than 70,000 strong and often made up of former anti-government fighters.
"We completely, absolutely reject the Awakening becoming a third military organisation," al-Obaidi said at a news conference.
He said the groups would also not be allowed to have any infrastructure, such as a headquarters building, that would give them long-term legitimacy.
Al-Obaidi said: "We absolutely reject that."
Integration
The Iraqi government has pledged to absorb about a quarter of the men into the security services and military, and provide vocational training so that the rest can find jobs.
More
The Sunni awakening councils, or Concerned Local Citizens, are backed and funded by the US as a vital tool for reducing violence.
The militias are more than 70,000 strong and often made up of former anti-government fighters.
"We completely, absolutely reject the Awakening becoming a third military organisation," al-Obaidi said at a news conference.
He said the groups would also not be allowed to have any infrastructure, such as a headquarters building, that would give them long-term legitimacy.
Al-Obaidi said: "We absolutely reject that."
Integration
The Iraqi government has pledged to absorb about a quarter of the men into the security services and military, and provide vocational training so that the rest can find jobs.
More
For more information:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EBA...
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