Maliki asks US to resist arming (Iraqi tribes)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/Maliki_asks_US_troops_to_resist_arming_Iraqi_tribes/articleshow/2128909.cms

Maliki asks US to resist arming
17 Jun, 2007 l 0855 hrs ISTlAFP

WASHINGTON: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has warned that US troops sometimes create new militias by arming Iraqi tribes, urging that such decisions be left to his government.

"Some field commanders make mistakes ... by arming tribes sometimes, and this is dangerous because this will create new militias," Maliki said in an interview put out on Newsweek magazine's website on.

"I believe that the coalition forces do not know the backgrounds of the tribes. It is a job of the (Iraqi) government," he added.

The premier said his administration seeks "to arm some tribes that want to side with us, but on the condition that we should be well aware of the tribe's background and sure that it is not connected with terror."

He said arming such groups "should be under the control of the state and we should have guarantees that it will not turn into a militia."

more...