Iraq govt says expects Sadr's backing for crackdown

BAGHDAD, Jan 11 (Reuters) The Iraqi government said today it would impose a strict ban on militias on the streets of Baghdad under a new security plan and it expected radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's supporters to comply.

Washington has identified the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to Sadr, as the biggest threat to Iraqi security but the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, dependent on Sadr's political movement for support, has so far struggled to rein it in.

US President George W. Bush said yesterday he would send more than 20,000 more US troops to Iraq. White House officials say Bush's troops plan follows personal commitments from Maliki to tackle militias and not to shield Sadr.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the Baghdad plan would make no distinction between Sunni Arabs or Shi'ites.

Asked whether Sadr had agreed to the new plan, Dabbagh said disarming militias would happen as security improves.

''There should be simultaneous steps taken in improving the security as well as disarming the militias,'' he said in English.

''This of course is going to be a political consensus and there will be a committee negotiating with all parties who have militias, and those ... who don't have militias, to reach a certain agreement and then it will be applied by force.'' ''There are strict instructions ... in Sadr City or anywhere else, it is not allowed for any militia to come on the street.'' Asked again, in Arabic, if Sadr has pledged his support for the plan, Dabbagh said: ''We expect from Moqtada's customary wisdom that he will restrain the supporters of the Mehdi Army from confronting the security forces. These are expectations and commitments we have taken from Moqtada.'' Hundreds of people are killed every week in bombings, mortar attacks and killings by sectarian death squads.

Critics have questioned Maliki's resolve after eight months in power to crack down on militias nominally loyal to his own allies and on militants entrenched in the Iraqi police and army.

US commanders say that, unlike previous operations in Baghdad, their troops will stay in areas ''cleared'' of militants to ensure Iraqi forces do not harm civilians or let gunmen come back. They also say a previous operation suffered from being focused primarily on Sunni Arab insurgents.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today at a news conference in Washington that Maliki had pledged the military would go after ''all law-breakers''. Gates declined to say if Sadr would be targeted. ''All parts of Baghdad are going to be involved in this campaign, including Sadr City,'' he said.

But in a sign of likely resistance, the parliamentary leader of his political movement, Nasser al-Rubaie, said it was important to differentiate between what he called the ''legal... military wing'' of a political party and ''terrorist'' groups.

''The armed phenomena in Iraq are of two kinds: first personal armament to defend oneself because the government is not playing its part in clamping down on security, and this will be dissolved when the government achieves security for citizens.

''Then the second kind is terrorist armament,'' he said.

The Sadrists have been boycotting government to press their demand for a full US troop withdrawal.

Dabbagh said Iraqi troops would take the lead in confronting armed groups on the streets under the Baghdad plan and it would be Iraqis who will ''knock on the door'' in raids and searches.

Previous US raids on Sadr City have sparked tension with the government, which has complained of poor coordination.

Reuters BDP GC2111