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Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: Baghdad starts paying anti-Qaeda militias AFP - Tuesday, November 11 BAGHDAD (AFP) - - Sunni militias which have played a key role in driving Al-Qaeda fighters from Baghdad began receiving pay cheques on Monday from a Shiite-led Iraqi government that has long eyed them with suspicion. At an Iraqi army base in Baghdad's Ameriyah district, where more than 30 Sahwa members perished in fierce streetbattles with Al-Qaeda in the first half of 2007, dozens of men in neat brown uniforms lined up to receive their wages. Mohammed Hamid, a smiling 26-year-old, said he hoped to get a full-time job in the army or the police. "I want to work for the security forces because of all the sectarian fighting that we had here. I want to help end it." He also relies on the monthly paycheck -- 300 US dollars dispensed in Iraqi dinars -- to support his family, including a young son who suffers from kidney disease. "We have to do this. There is no other work." Around 60 stations were open throughout the Iraqi capital to pay about 50,000 members of the US-allied so-called Awakening Councils, or Sahwas, which used to receive their monthly salaries in dollars from the US military. "This is really a tremendously important day and a manifestation of the reconciliation process that is happening in Iraq," US Army Brigadier General Robin Swan said. "The real proof of the pudding is in the payday." The Iraqi government has always been wary of the groups which formed in 2007 largely made up of fighters who once battled US and Iraqi forces, and its bid to bring them into the security forces could test Baghdad's fragile calm. As the last of 290 Sahwa members received their cheques, their commander Mohammed Ibrahim said he hoped the government would continue to employ them. "We have heard all these promises (from the government) and we want to believe them," he said. "It is in their interest to support us because we are the reason they got rid of Al-Qaeda." The Sahwas are largely made up of former insurgents who once fought US and Iraqi forces, but over the last year they have paid a heavy price for the fragile calm that has gradually returned to Baghdad in recent months. "We never thought we would be able to request normal jobs," said Bassam Fawzi, a 37-year-old veteran fighter. "We only fought because we wanted to rid our neighbourhood of terrorists and protect our people." "They killed everyone -- Shiite, Sunni, Christian," he said of the Al-Qaeda gunmen who once ruled Ameriyah. "At that time we could not remove the trash from the streets because of all the roadside bombs." But across town in the centuries-old Sunni district of Adhamiya the streets are still littered with garbage, and residents say despite the newfound security the government still neglects them. "Look at the streets, the sewage, the garbage everywhere. We are sick of it," said Salman Khalil as he sat outside a fly-blown restaurant across the street from the soaring minarets of the famed Abu Hanifa Shrine. There too the local Sahwa fighters have largely defeated Al-Qaeda and brought a new level of security to streets now bustling with shoppers. "We brought security to the area and now they call us a militia," said Barakat al-Obeidi, 35, a local Sahwa member whose brother, a Sahwa commander, was killed by a suicide bomber in August. "But even if they cut off our salaries we will continue to defend our city. We will do it for free. Our families live here so we have to protect them." Their importance was brutally underscored on Monday when a double bombing in another nearby market killed 28 people and wounded scores more. The Sahwas say their relations with the Iraqi army under which they serve have improved, but they fear that over the long term the government is determined to sideline them. The US military had always hoped that as Iraqi security forces brought order to the country it would be able to pull back, and president-elect Barack Obama has said he hopes to withdraw most troops by the middle of 2010. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article Average (0 votes) Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: War On Terror Audit: Public shorted on terror prosecutionsAP - 2 hours 42 minutes ago Obama plans Guantanamo closure, US terror trialsAP - Tuesday, November 11 Baghdad starts paying anti-Qaeda militiasAFP - Tuesday, November 11 US military conducts a dozen secret strikes in four years: reportAFP - Monday, November 10 Related Articles: World 2 employees slain in St. Louis-area Steak'n ShakeAP - 24 minutes ago Sources: Florida's Everglades land buy revisedAP - 24 minutes ago US unveils Mexican consulate in busiest visa cityAP - 30 minutes ago Michelle Obama visits Washington private schoolsAP - 30 minutes ago Lawsuit filed against NYC mayor's bid for 3rd termAP - 35 minutes ago Enlarge Photo Members of Sunni Muslim Sahwas or Awakening Councils checks some official papers at a checkpoint in the Adhamiyah Sunni district of Baghdad, November 9. Sunni militias which have played a key role in driving Al-Qaeda fighters from Baghdad began receiving pay cheques on Monday from a Shiite-led Iraqi government that has long eyed them with suspicion. Related Full Coverage War On Terror Global fight against terrorism All Full Coverage Most Popular – World Viewed In Obama's victory, Americans see legacy of Lincoln G20 pledges 'all necessary steps' to restore stability AIDS vaccines: New hope for problem-plagued path Documents expose Prince William RAF training row: report MP3 earphones can hamper defibrillators, pacemakers View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology

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