BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government said on Saturday that an offer by radical Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr to help boost security at strategic sites was unnecessary, in the wake of anti-Shia attacks in Baghdad.
I don't think we are lacking men in the security forces, what we are lacking is intelligence,' the prime minister's spokesman, Ali Al Mussawi, told AFP. We do not believe that security has reached its highest level and certainly there are still deficiencies, but these can be resolved with the support of everyone and (not) by certain mistaken declarations from politicians about the security forces,' he added.
In a statement on Friday night, after anti-Shia attacks rocked Baghdad and killed at least 52 people, Sadr said he was ready to supply hundreds of believers to form brigades within the police forces and army to defend the shrines, the mosques, the faithful, the markets, the houses and the people.'
This would prevent us having to rely on the occupation forces for protection and enable the Iraqis to live peacefully.'
The government is free to refuse (our offer) but we are always ready to help,' added the radical Shia leader, whose Sadrist political movement could be the kingmakers in Iraq's next government.
Friday's attacks were the most deadly since Iraq's March 7 general election, and came just days after the government said Al Qaeda was on the run. The violence in the capital, which also wounded 115 people, underscored the unrest that continues to plague a nation whose politicians are struggling to form a government seven weeks after the election.
According to Salah Al Obeidi, a spokesman for the Sadrist political movement in the Shia holy city of Najaf, Sadr launched his appeal because we believe that the security forces are insufficient and are infiltrated' by members loyal to the former Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein.
That is why we are offering to put members of our movement at (the government's) disposal to boost security,' he added.
Iraq's army and police forces are estimated to number 550,000 men.
Formed in 2003, it was regarded by many as the most powerful of the Iraqi militias. Heavy fighting in the spring of 2008 between the Mahdi Army and security forces in Baghdad and the south had left hundreds killed.
And in response ...
In August 2008, Sadr ordered a halt to armed operations by his 60,000-strong militia, blamed by the United States for some of the worst sectarian killings of Sunni Arabs in the war-torn country.
Sadr, who lives in self-imposed exile in Iran, also led two uprisings in 2004 against the US forces in Iraq, only to join the US-brokered political process later and accept a place in the governing coalition. |
Followers of anti-US cleric Muqtada Al Sadr hope to win back their position as a major force in this month's regional elections after a string of political setbacks last year. Even modest success in the January 31 vote for ruling provincial councils could position the Sadrists as coalition partners in key southern provinces. 
NAJAF, Iraq - A top aide and three supporters of Shia radical leader