Maliki: U.S. arming of Sunni tribes 'is dangerous because this will create new militias'

Above: Sunni tribal leaders meet with U.S. military personnel in Diyala province on May 23rd.

The United States runs the risk of creating new militias in Iraq if it arms Sunni Arab tribesmen indiscriminately to battle al Qaeda, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Maliki gave the first indication his government disagrees with the U.S. military policy of arming and equipping Sunni Arab tribes to fight al Qaeda militants under a model first used in Anbar province.

"We want to arm some tribes that want to side with us but on condition that we should be well aware of the tribe's background and sure that it is not connected with terror," Maliki said.

"Some (U.S.) field commanders make mistakes since they do not know the facts about people they deal with. I believe the Coalition forces do not know the background of the tribes," he told Newsweek on Friday.

"They make mistakes by arming tribes sometimes, and this is dangerous because this will create new militias," he said.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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