PM designate signals crackdown on militias

Cutting ties with militants
The tough-talking al-Maliki, who once managed Shiite guerrillas in Saddam’s Iraq from exile in Syria, promised an inclusive government with “all components of Iraqi society.”

Al-Maliki, 55, also signaled he was prepared to crack down on Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias responsible for the rise in sectarian violence that threatens to plunge the nation into civil war.

“Weapons should be only the hands of the government,” al-Maliki told reporters. He pointed to laws requiring militias to be integrated into the nation’s security forces.

Al-Maliki’s toughest task will be assigning control of the defense and interior ministries, responsible for the army and the police. Sunnis have accused the Shiite-run Interior Ministry of tolerating death squads that target Sunni civilians. Army and police ranks are believed to be infiltrated by militias.

The current interior minister belongs to the largest Shiite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), believed to operate a militia. U.S. officials have insisted the next minister have no ties to militias.

Al-Sadr pledges to keep his force
Another militia, the Mahdi Army, is controlled by radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who supported al-Jaafari for another term. Al-Sadr refuses to disband his force unless other militias are abolished and the army and police prove capable of protecting Shiites from Sunni extremists.

While politicians from all sides called for unity and an end to sectarianism in Saturday’s parliament session, the differences were visible.

The new Sunni parliament speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, insisted the armed forces must be built “on the basis of national loyalty” and spoke strongly against sectarian violence — code among Sunnis for militia violence.

Then a lawmaker stood and chided him for not speaking out against terrorism — a reference to the Sunni-led insurgency.

Al-Jaafari took the podium and barked, “Your only enemy is terrorism. That is all.”

Reputation as a hard-liner
In his new role, al-Maliki must make overtures to the disaffected Sunni Arab community, the backbone of the insurgency. Sunni Arab politicians accepted al-Maliki despite his reputation as a hardline champion of Shiite rights.

Al-Maliki was deputy chairman of a committee formed to purge Saddam allies from political life. Many Sunnis believed the committee’s goal was to deny them a role in Iraq.

He also was a tough negotiator in deliberations over Iraq’s new constitution, passed last year despite Sunni Arab objections. He resisted U.S. efforts to put more Sunnis on the drafting committee as well as Sunni efforts to dilute provisions giving Shiites and Kurds the power to form semiautonomous mini-states in the north and south.

Under a deal worked out with Sunnis last year, parliament has four months to consider constitutional amendments, a process likely to strain relations among the ethnic and religious groups at a time when the Americans are pushing for unity.

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