Dozens of Iraqi security force members were involved in attacks that killed up to 112 people in Baghdad last week, the country’s prime minister Nuri al-Maliki said today.
There is widespread suspicion in Iraq that the police and armed forces have been infiltrated by militants, take bribes to allow insurgents to mount attacks, or may be colluding with militants to undermine Maliki before a March 7th general election.
A series of high-profile attacks on supposedly secure government targets have killed hundreds in recent months and eroded Mr Maliki's ability to present himself as the man who turned around Iraqi security, a key plank of his election campaign.
Mr Maliki vowed he would not let ongoing insurgent attacks influence the polls. He said there were at least 45 members of the security forces involved in the December 8th attack.
"The network was a large one, 24 from one arm of the Iraqi security forces, 13 from another, and eight or nine from another," Mr Maliki told a news conference without saying which branch of the security forces those involved came from.
Mr Maliki promised a reward of around $85,500 to anyone who alerting the government to car bombs before they detonate. The reward would "get citizens involved in supporting the security service and remedy its deficiencies", he said.
Large financial rewards have been offered in the past by the US military for information on insurgent leaders.
US combat troops pulled out of urban areas in June, leaving Iraqi forces to take the lead, but bombings have raised renewed questions about the competence of Iraqi security forces as US troops prepare to fully withdraw by the end of 2011.
Still, Mr Maliki said the attacks would not delay the US drawdown, echoing assurances from the US administration that it will not alter plants to end combat operations by August 31st 2010 and bring troop levels to 50,000 by then.
"As for the effect of these operations on the withdrawal, not at all. The withdrawal has been completely finalised with a defined timetable," he said.
Reuters