US general says Iraq tackling militia infiltration

BAGHDAD, Feb 27 (Reuters) A senior US general said today retraining of Iraqi security forces to stamp out militia infiltration was going well and the ''large majority'' were now working in the interests of the Iraqi government.

A UN report last month said militias and criminal gangs were increasingly acting in collusion with or had infiltrated the police and army, and Sunni Arabs frequently complain they are unfairly targeted by the Shi'ite-dominated police force.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, has vowed to tackle Shi'ite militias with as much determination as Sunni insurgents in a new security crackdown in Baghdad launched this month and seen as a last chance to avert civil war.

General Raymond Odierno, number two US general in Iraq, said at a news conference that all Iraqi units involved in the crackdown were accompanied by U.S. or other coalition soldiers.

''One of the things they try to evaluate is have the Iraqi security forces been infiltrated by militias,'' Odierno said.

''There still are some that are infiltrated by militias but we're finding the large majority of them are not. They're acting in the best interests of the Iraqi government,'' he said.

Maliki heads a national unity government that includes Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Washington has pressed him to crack down on militias linked to some of his allies, including the Mehdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr, whose political movement provides key parliamentary support and controls some ministries.

Odierno said a programme to send police units for retraining to overcome sectarian loyalties was going well and all units would be put through the process. ''We started with the ones we felt had the most problems and so far that's gone pretty well.'' Odierno said in the past three weeks there had been a ''pretty radical'' decrease in sectarian killings which he attributed to the sharp increase in troops on the streets, but he said he was reluctant to draw conclusions.

''We know there will be some tough days ahead,'' he said.

''We will stay at this until we think people feel safe in their neighbourhoods and it's going to take months.'' In recent months police were finding as many as 40 or 50 bodies a day, most showing signs of torture and shot dead, around Baghdad.

Since the plan was launched that has fallen to three or four on some days, though 25 were found yesterday.

US President George W. Bush has ordered 21,500 extra troops to Iraq, most to help enforce the Baghdad security plan.

Odierno said some had already arrived and more would be flowing in until May. Only then would he be able to evaluate how long the extra troops would be needed, he said.

''I'm cautiously optimistic how things are going forward so far, but it's way too early to make a determination (about how long US troops will stay),'' he said.

Reuters SY DB2128