The vigilante group in question is referred to by Baghdadis as “the Sahwa” (the Awakening,) while US sources call such groups “concerned citizens’” organizations, supported by the US Army, and enlisting local residents trying to expel al-Qa’ida from their areas. Reportedly, several Sunni Baghdadi districts that used to be controlled by al-Qa’ida, or featured a heavy presence by the extremist organization, have already fallen under the control of the “Awakening” militias. Arab and Western media reports said that some of those militias are manned and led by individuals who belong to other Sunni armed factions, and who decided to join the battle against al-Qa’ida. Al-Mada, however, did not mention the political links of the Awakening fighters its reporters observed in 'A’dhamiya.
The 'A’dhamiya residents, the paper said, were surprised to hear gunshots on the morning of Saturday and to see the streets teeming with Awakening men, erecting checkpoints and driving through the streets in their distinctive uniforms. Police loudspeakers from the nearby station called on the locals to battle al-Qa’ida. Ibraheem, who was interviewed by al-Mada said that the police message asked the residents to “expel them as they expelled you from your homes.”
Later in the day, when the residents learned that the “'A’dhamiya Awakening” had taken hold of the district and arrested several al-Qa’ida militants, rumors spread that the militia was now recruiting from among the locals, and offering salaries up to $900. Street hawkers soon appeared selling Awakening uniforms, and al-Mada said that within hours, all olive shirts and khaki pants (the colors of the militia’s fighters) were sold out from the neighborhood’s stores.
The paper said that young new recruits, usually under the age of 20, manned the checkpoints; while “stout” men, who were less numerous, went on the lookout for al-Qa’ida militants. According to al-Mada, the 'A’dhamiya Awakening also recruited in the schools. Reportedly, representatives of the militia visited the local high schools and encouraged the students to join, “large numbers (of students) enrolled,” al-Mada said.
A side-effect of the “coup d’état” was a sharp rise in the prices of weapons in 'A’dhamiya, as locals wishing to join the militia are rushing to buy weapons, especially AK-47s; owning a personal weapon is a condition for those wishing to enroll in the Awakening. Another side effect was the occurrence of revenge killings in the district, the victims, al-Mada said, “had criminal records in the city.”
Numerous reports will no doubt follow on these local militias whose effect on Baghdad’s political and security scene is still to be determined. While some 'A’dhamiya residents interviewed by al-Mada welcomed the advent of the Awakening and expressed joy over al-Qa’ida’s defeat, others warned that the mass-recruiting may result in terrorists infiltrating the group, and expressed fears should the militia replace the government as the local law enforcer. A man identified as N.Sh said: “many of the people who used terrorize the residents and threaten them ... are now wearing the Awakening uniform, and many of those who used to disseminate al-Qa’ida’s thought ... are now part of the Awakening.”
In other news, Kul al-‘Iraq and Az-Zaman highlighted a press conference held by Sadrist leader Baha' al-A’raji, in which he asked President Talabani to disband the current Parliament and hold early legislative elections under a new electoral law. Al-A’raji said that his opinion does not reflect the viewpoint of the Sadrist Current as a whole, but is an “individual” initiative; he described the parliament as “politicized and weak,” and said that the situation is caused by the “closed list” electoral system, which created many battling blocs within the House of Representatives and “does not allow the citizen to know who he’s voting for.” The Sadrist MP said that the next elections should be run under an “open list” system, whereby votes are cast for individual candidates, not for electoral lists.
Also in Kul al-‘Iraq, the paper reported that the Speaker of the Parliament, Mahmud al-Mashhadani, announced that the names of the MPs who missed more than 20 legislative sessions will be publicly announced during the next meeting of the Parliament. The constant absence of Iraqi MPs has been a perennial problem for the Iraqi legislature, which has had to postpone sessions repeatedly due to the lack of quorum.
Lastly, al-Hayat said that sectarian tensions may be on the rise again in the city of Samarra', which witnessed the bombing of a Shi’a shrine in 2006, an incident that flared the wave of sectarian violence Iraq has been reeling under for the last two years. A Sunni mosque may allegedly be destroyed in the process of the rebuilding of the Shi'a shrine, and Sunni clergymen warned that such an act could instigate “sectarian sedition.”Samarra', which is Sunni-dominated, houses a shrine for two Shi’a Imams. But adjoining the shrine is a historic Sunni mosque and religious school.
The Association of Muslim Scholars warned that the government may be harboring plans to destroy the Sunni mosque “in the context of the reconstruction of the shrines.” A Samarra' local official told al-Hayat that a property dispute has been ongoing between the Shi’a and Sunni endowments in the city, with the Shi’a endowment demanding a part of the mosque grounds to expand the shrine. Local Sunni clerics view the situation as “a government-initiated act of sabotage” against Sunni religious sites, the paper said.
