Iraqi PM promises 'iron fist' to crack down on factions in Basra

IRAQ: Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Malaki declared a one-month state of emergency in the southern port city of Basra yesterday and pledged to use an "iron fist" to crush criminal gangs engaged in murder and kidnapping and halt fighting between Shia militias. He was speaking during a visit to the area.

Factional rivalries threaten to fracture the Shia United Iraqi Alliance and sectarian attacks have eroded the security situation in the city.

Mosques frequented by the Sunni minority have been forced to close and street battles have erupted between the Badr Corps of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

But since Mr Malaki belongs to the rival Shia Dawa Party, which has no militia, he has little leverage on the Badr Corps or the Sadrists.

Although he has called for the dissolution of all militias, he promised that members of militias who fought former president Saddam Hussein would be recruited into the armed forces and police.

However, since only Shia and Kurdish militias stood against the former president, this could exacerbate existing tensions between these communities and Sunnis, who argue that the security services have already become ethnic and sectarian bodies loyal to communal leaders rather than the state.

Sunnis say Shia death squads formed in the police commandos and army have been intimidating and murdering them.

Mr Malaki is also facing rebellion by the Shia Virtue Party, which governs Basra and controls workers at Basra's oil loading facility.

Virtue has withdrawn from the Shia parliamentary bloc and has ordered workers to slow the export of southern crude since its nominee was not named oil minister, the post it held in the last government. Mr Malaki chose Hussein Shahristani, a nuclear scientist closely tied to Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, for this post but a reshuffle is rumoured.

If Virtue halts oil exports from the south, Iraq will have no foreign earnings because the flow of oil through the northern pipeline to Turkey and the Mediterranean has been halted by sabotage.

Although Mr Malaki has declared he will appoint his own nominees for the still unfilled posts at defence and interior, he has been unable to do so because the Shia Alliance vetoes candidates put forward by its own member parties and others.

His declared deadline for making these appointments has passed and he needs the support of 138 deputies of 275 to win a vote of confidence.

As security in the capital continues to deteriorate, members of parliament proposed spending $50 million on armoured cars to protect against assassination.

Shia and Kurdish politicians are trying to curb the powers of the Sunni speaker of the house by compelling him to consult his Shia and Kurdish deputies before taking decisions.

This has outraged Sunnis who claim that they are under-represented in the government as they have received only 11 per cent of the posts while they constitute 20 per cent of the populace.