Militia stand-off at Iraqi police station

BAGHDAD, Sep 25 (Reuters) Kurdish and Arab rivals were fighting for control of a police station in a northern Iraq town today, police sources said.

Armed Kurdish militiamen torched three police cars and occupied the station in Jalawla, near the Iranian border, after a Kurdish major in the local police force was replaced with an Arab, officials at Diyala provincial police headquarters said.

The incident, typical in towns throughout Iraq, demonstrates the difficulties the US-backed government is having in setting up a single police force loyal to the state.

US and Iraqi officials say local police forces are often loyal to ethnic and sectarian militias, and trying to ensure they report to the central authorities is one of the biggest problems facing the state.

The provincial police chief ordered forces across the ethnically mixed province to stop using their radios and mobile phones and use only landline telephones to guard against eavesdropping.

Provincial police officials said they were considering storming the station.

Reuters MQA GC1459