alt.war.iraq

America's Sunni allies go on strike in Iraq's Diyala province

By Steve Lannen
McClatchy Newspapers
February 8, 2008

Baghdad - Members of U.S.-allied citizen brigades, which are credited with
helping to tamp down violence in many parts of Iraq, went on strike Friday
in Diyala province, alleging that the provincial police chief there is
running a death squad.

A leader of the group said that brigade members, most of them Sunni Muslims,
wouldn't resume working with U.S. and Iraqi government forces until the
Shiite police chief resigns or is indicted.

A curfew was imposed, and police throughout the province ended their patrols
early to avoid clashes with the U.S.-funded concerned local citizens, or
"popular committees" as they're known in Diyala, who staged demonstrations
against the police chief. No casualties were reported.

The strike highlights the tenuous relationship between U.S.-allied
Sunni-dominated citizen militias and the Shiite-dominated, U.S.-backed Iraqi
security forces.

Abu Mina, one of the leaders of the citizens groups in Diyala, northeast of
Baghdad, said his group demanded the resignation of Gen. Ghanim al Quraishi
three days ago and had given authorities evidence that Quraishi was involved
in death-squad activities. Mina also accused seven police officers of
kidnapping, raping and killing two women in a village north of Diyala
earlier this week.

The police chief couldn't be reached for comment. A U.S. military spokesman
in Baghdad acknowledged the strike, but had no further comment.

The citizens groups also are demanding that the heavily Shiite police force
be remade into one that reflects the composition of the mixed Sunni-Shiite
province, that detained people not convicted of crimes be released and that
Sunnis who return to Shiite-dominated areas from which they've been
displaced be protected.

The commander of security operations in Diyala said he's trying to arrange a
meeting among the police, popular committee leaders, provincial officials
and U.S. forces to mediate.

Gen. Abdulkareem al Rubaiye called the situation "strained" and said the
curfew would remain in effect until further notice.

"If the popular committees were to withdraw their support, it will certainly
be a big setback in the security situation in Diyala," he said.

Meanwhile, the court-martial got under way in Baghdad for a U.S. Army sniper
who's accused of killing an Iraqi man and planting an AK-47 on him after he
stumbled onto a sniper hideout. Sgt. Evan Vela is accused of murder and
making false statements. Two other soldiers already have been convicted on
charges of planting evidence, but they were acquitted of the murder charges.

(Lannen reports for the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. McClatchy special
correspondent Sahar Issa contributed

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