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The Iraqi government has developed a plan to absorb elements of the predominantly Sunni Arab irregular forces known largely as "Awakening" councils, with 20 percent of the fighters to be folded into the ranks of the Interior Ministry forces, a ministry official has said.
Maj. Gen. Abd al-Karim Khalaf al-Kanani, director of the National Command Center in the Iraqi Interior Ministry told Aswat al-Iraq that "There will be funds set aside for 20 percent of the Sahwa elements across Iraq to fold them into the police forces, while 80 percent of the Sahwa elements will be distributed to other ministries, among them the Ministry of Defense," the agency writes in Arabic.
Sahwa is Arabic for "awakening," and is the term used by Iraqis to designate the locally organized pro-US forces.
"The Interior Ministry will absorb those who meet the conditions for appointment to the police agencies, according to the conditions in effect in the ministry," the major general added.
The Iraqi government has expressed its support for the policy of forming Sahwa councils and of arming the tribes in the Iraqi provinces, but has said that the enrollment of the Sahwa members into the security forces must occur under the supervision of Iraqi government agencies, and has called Iraq's political parties and forces to refrain from interference in the process.
In his remarks on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry official did not specify any further details regarding the process of absorbing the Sahwas into the Iraqi ranks.
As the New York Times reported earlier, US officials are placing pressure on the Iraqi government to absorb the American-created and generally American-backed paramilitary groups usually in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq.
The Iraqi government has ruled out the possibility that the Sahwa forces could become a "third force," that is, a standing armed contingent not under the control of either the Interior Ministry or the Ministry of Defense. Gen. Petraeus, the top commander of American forces in Iraq, expressed agreement with the Iraqi government position on the Sahwa forces, which have fought in coordination with American troops against al-Qa'ida in Iraq-related organizations.
Petraeus projected that between 20 and 30 percent of the Sahwa elements – referred to by the Americans as "Concerned Local Citizens" – would be absorbed into the Iraqi security forces.
Meanwhile, as the status of the Sahwas is worked out at the national level, elements of the armed groups have recently seen low-level clashes recently with Iraqi regular forces and with the powerful Shi'a Mahdi Army militia in Baghdad at the local level in Baghdad.
