Middle East News
Al-Maliki: US must not arm Iraqi clans
Jun 18, 2007, 6:27 GMT
Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki does not want to allow US troops to distribute arms among Iraqi clan chiefs, the Al-Sabah daily reported Monday.
According to the paper, al-Maliki told journalists: 'The government will not allow anyone to deliver arms to anyone else.'
The US military had initially supported Sunni clans in western Anbar province, who were fighting against Sunni al-Qaeda terrorists.
Iraqi observers say that similar arrangements might soon be made in other provinces that suffer from civil unrest.
Meanwhile, some 350 soldiers were dismissed from the military in the southern Iraqi city of Basra for being involved in attacks on Sunni mosques, the paper said.
Basra was currently working on a new plan to protect the city's shrines and mosques, a military commander was quoted as saying by the paper.
Fanatics had attacked several mosques and a shrine in the Basra area the previous week. The attacks were considered an act of revenge for the terrorist attacks on the Shiite Golden Mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, where two minarets collapsed last Wednesday.
Iraqi media reported Monday that the central criminal court in Baghdad had sentenced a Syrian with the alias Abu Katada to be hanged for 'crimes and terrorist activities in Iraq.'
In another development, the US military said two US soldiers had been killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad on Saturday.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Only the US can arm clans, especially sunni clans supported by Saudi Arabia, I wonder why Iraq is in a mess? hmmm, ohh its because Muslims are backward?
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What?Jun 18th, 2007 - 07:29:41
al-Maliki dares to question the decisions made by the god-emperor? Bomb the green zone!
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