Maliki security plan denounced

IRAQ:Iraqi legislators have denounced the security plan for Baghdad put forward by the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, as unbalanced and argue that it should be submitted to parliament before being executed.

Mr Maliki announced on Saturday that Iraqi combat troops, backed by US forces, will be deployed in neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood operations against insurgents and Shia death squads.

The cleared areas will then be placed under the control of local Iraqi army commanders who will be ordered to make certain the gunmen do not return.

Two army brigades comprising Kurdish militiamen from the north and Shia soldiers from the south will reinforce troops already in the area. Police will not be involved because of the recruitment of militiamen with sectarian agendas into these bodies.

Iraqi army units will eventually assume full responsibility for inner Baghdad while the US will be in charge of outlying districts. It is also planned that there will be a crackdown on Shia militiamen who have been drafted into the armed forces.

The plan has drawn criticism from Sunni political figures. Speaker of parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said: "Since martial law has been suspended, al-Maliki has no authority under the constitution to enforce security plans unless approved by the assembly."

Some critics argue that the plan focuses on Sunni west Baghdad rather than the eastern Shia stronghold of Sadr City, where Shia death squads are based. Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, warned that the plan will "lead to civil war between Sunnis and Shia" due to its lack of balance.

The Maliki plan was endorsed by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and president of the Kurdish regional assembly, Massoud Barzani. However, Kurdish lawmaker Mahmud Osman rejected the use of Kurdish fighters, saying it could spark conflict between Arabs and Kurds.

Meanwhile, there are fears that the security plan, the third proposed by Mr Maliki since he took office in May, could be used as cover for driving more Sunnis from their homes.

Adnan Dulaimi, leader of the Sunni fundamentalist Iraqi Accord Front, accused Shia militias, particularly the al-Mahdi army of Muqtada al-Sadr, of implementing a strategy, supported by the government, for cleansing Sunnis from eastern districts of the capital. He said this process was being implemented without provocation from Sunni insurgents.

Jalal Saghir of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia parliamentary bloc, counterclaimed that Sunni cleansing of Shias in the western districts had been going on for some time.