Arab anti Al-Qaeda fighters fear for future

FUTURE FEARS: Sunni Arab fighters in Iraq say their future is bleak. (AFP)

Sunni Arab fighters battling Al-Qaeda in Iraq say their future is bleak as the Shiite government prepares to take over responsibility for them from the Americans and they also face jihadist fury.

Nearly every week Abdullah Al-Samarraie meets government officials as he seeks a job. The 30-year-old anti-Qaeda fighter wants to use his skills as a policeman or soldier in Iraq's security forces.

Samarraie has been fighting against Al-Qaeda extremists in Baquba, one of the most dangerous cities in the country, but has yet to find employment.

"I've made dozens of applications for a job in the security forces but with no luck," said Samarraie, one of around 100,000 mostly Sunni Arabs who have to date been backed by the US military in the fight against Al-Qaeda.

In September 2006, the American military began supporting the formation of neighbourhood groups of Sunni Arabs to band together and fight the jihadists, paying them an average monthly salary of around $300.

Most were themselves former insurgents who had fought against the US-led coalition forces in the aftermath of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq but later turned against their Al-Qaeda allies, disgusted with the group's extremism.

From next month, however, the responsibility for paying these Sunni groups known as Sahwa (Awakening) councils - or, by the US military, "Sons of Iraq" - is set to be taken over by Baghdad's Shiite-led government.

Many Sahwa members have been hoping to be rewarded with jobs in the security forces or other state establishments in return for battling Al-Qaeda. They are credited with helping to reduce violence levels across Iraq to a four-year low.

But now they fear their Sahwa councils will be disbanded instead, leaving them both disarmed and jobless at a time when Al-Qaeda is likely to be seeking them out for revenge.

"I'm being chased by Al-Qaeda, and if the situation does not change I will have to leave Diyala," said Samarraie.

His group leader, Ala Hamud Sultan al-Nidawi, said Iraqi forces have already begun closing Sahwa offices in Baquba and its surrounding province of Diyala where a massive military operation targeting Al-Qaeda began in July.

"The Iraqi forces surprised us with the decision to disarm us and close our offices," Nidawi said.

"We expected the Iraqi forces to chase the terrorists and outlaws. If Al-Qaeda and other terrorists return then we are not responsible for that."

Major General Abdel Karim Khalaf, the Diyala police chief, admitted that security forces had closed some Sahwa offices in the province.

"It was necessary so government forces can take over security responsibilities," he told AFP.

Many Sahwa members have also complained that their leaders are being targeted by the government, but Baghdad says that only those with criminal records are being arrested.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told US-based CNN television on Friday that many Sahwa members were still "undisciplined and had links with terrorists".

Nidawi said Baghdad was signalling its intention to put an end to the Sahwa groups.

"If this continues we will have to leave the country in order to protect our families because now Al-Qaeda has become our bitter enemy," he said.

Another Sahwa leader, who asked to remain anonymous, warned that if the situation was not handled properly Sahwa members may change their colours once again.

"The issue has to be addressed by cooperation. My concern is that the government will not provide jobs. This will increase unemployment and these youngsters would return to armed (insurgent) groups," he told AFP.

While attempts are being made to train Sahwa members for civilian jobs, leading Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman of Iraq's Kurdish alliance is convinced the government wants to control the Sunni fighters.

"The Shiite government looks on them as a political enemy," Othman said.

"It sees them as Arab Sunni fighters who were former Al-Qaeda or insurgents fighting the government and they have to be punished. Sahwas also will not be very satisfied... maybe some will go back against the government."

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