Iraq's Sunni Anti-Qaeda Patrols Fear For Future

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE48N2LW.html

Iraq's Sunni anti-Qaeda patrols fear for future
Wed 24 Sep 2008, 8:31 GMT

By Tim Cocks

SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) - At a checkpoint consisting of a wooden shack wrapped in steel sheets, five young Iraqis with AK-47 rifles have the task of stopping al Qaeda bombers striking the ancient city of Samarra. Bereft of uniforms but for the bright yellow vests they don for visibility, the Sunni Arab neighbourhood guards stop and check cars, wave through traffic and scan busy market streets for signs of suspicious movement. Such guards have been vital in helping cut violence across Iraq, but many say they now fear being abandoned as the Shi'ite-led government prepares to take control of them from the U.S. military in the coming months.

Called Awakening Councils or "Sahwas" in Arabic, the units led by local tribal sheikhs began turning against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda two years ago in western Anbar province. When they took up arms in Samarra in late 2007, they helped restore order to a city where al Qaeda militants had once ruled the streets, killing everyone from police to trash collectors. Schools closed and streets were deserted.

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Now those same streets are bustling and once-shut kiosks sell everything from watermelons to women's clothes -- thanks in part to around 1,200 paid Sahwas in Samarra. Another 1,800 unpaid volunteers operate in the surrounding desert region.

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But the guards, who get paid an average $300 a month by the U.S. military, are troubled about the future even though the government in Baghdad has publicly praised their contribution to improving security and said they would be looked after. Some government officials eye the unofficial forces, which include many former Sunni Arab insurgents, with suspicion. Some guards fear they may be arrested because of their past. "We all want jobs in the police, but we can't be sure," said Amir Hardan Jadoua, 23, as another fighter waved a truck though their checkpoint. "The government never talks to us, so we're in the dark about all decisions. We're getting worried."

TAKE UP ARMS AGAIN?

Some analysts fear that unless the Sahwas are looked after, they could again take up arms against the government.

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