Almost one year after the Awakening Council militia was first brought into being by Sunni tribesmen in Iraq's western Anbar province, the country's government has decided to integrate the tribal fighters into the security forces to help combat the ongoing insurgency, according to dpa. The model of such a volunteer armed resistance, primarily supported by the United States, has been well-received and spread into Diyala province - one of the hubs of insurgency in Iraq - and the capital Baghdad, especially in the predominately Sunni and ethically mixed areas. Millions of dollars were provided to Sunni tribal leaders who currently work alongside US forces to fight anti-coalition militias such as the al-Qaeda terrorist network. US Defence Minister Robert Gates, who visited Iraq Wednesday, called for the integration of local militias in the fight against al- Qaeda in western and northern Iraq. "Integrating (non-official fighters) into the security forces is one of the techniques for fighting guerrilla warfare and combating disobedience and rebellion," Iraqi government military spokesman Qassem Atta explained. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior intends to provide the fighters with special uniforms and weapons during their joint operations with the Iraqi and US security forces. However, the government put strict conditions on accepting volunteers from the Awakening Council, Atta said. A volunteer, Atta said, should be a resident of the area where he volunteered to serve. In addition, those wanted on criminal charges would not be accepted. "About 12,000 volunteers have signed up so far and we are planning to raise the number to 45,000 all over Baghdad and its suburbs by the first half of 2008," Atta said. Iraqi government sources said that, as a precautionary measure, the US military recently signed a three-month renewable agreement with the Awakening Council to prove their loyalty and keenness in providing for the country's security. The head of the Iraqi parliament's Security and Defence Committee, Hadi al-Amri, said the volunteers would be approved by the government only as individuals and not as political coalitions. The volunteer fighters managed to kill and arrest hundreds of al- Qaeda members, many of whom fled to the northern city of Mosul, about 400 kilometres north of Baghdad. Throughout the past months, tribal leaders led by the late Sheikh Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha united tribesmen in Anbar province, managing to expel al-Qaeda terrorist network militants from the province. Abu Risha, a key Sunni leader who became a US and Iraqi government ally, was assassinated near his home in September.
