Iraq's Maliki Grapples with Militia Violence

If Iraq's militias are not disarmed, the country cannot be rebuilt. That's the stance of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has vowed to curb lawless militias. The groups are blamed for the surge in sectarian killings over the past six months.

But observers say that integrating rival Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni militiamen into the existing security forces will be no easy task. Many of the militias are loyal to Iraq's major political parties and ethnic groups.

And in some Baghdad neighborhoods, the militias are also coming to some people's rescue -- in one recent case, the Mahdi Army sought retribution for a murder and set up security checkpoints after a Shiite man was killed. Officials say with every day bringing new threats, the militias are sometimes seen as the only groups capable of providing security.

That story and others like it present a far different picture than the one normally painted of militias -- one of rampaging death squads shooting or beheading huge numbers of Iraqis simply for belonging to the wrong branch of Islam. In fact, two Shiite militiamen told NPR they have no problem with the Iraqi government.

Ever since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, militias have been a power on the streets, serving the interests of their political patrons. But as the anarchy in Baghdad has spread, militias have also branched out to neighborhood protection.

In several parts of the city, terrified families are turning not to the police but to militias when they find their home or family in jeopardy. In the largely Sunni Mansour neighborhood in west Baghdad, a 29-year-old man who gives his name as Abu Haider Abduladheem says he's a member of the Badr Brigade, the militia linked with one of the largest Shiite political parties.

He says he's involved in protecting a half dozen Shiite families in Mansour, all of whom received threatening letters demanding they move out of the neighborhood. One of the letters arrived with a percussion grenade, backing up the threat of violence.

"These families came to our offices," Abduladheem said. "They said they had been threatened to leave the area or they would be killed and so would their children. Our leaders decided to protect these areas."

Checkpoints were set up, and the brigade even cleaned the streets, to offer less opportunity to roadside bombers.

Abduladheem said some of the Badr Brigade's weapons are licensed by the Interior Ministry -- and they advised the city council before taking to the streets. He says U.S. troops seem to have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy about these militia-run checkpoints, as long as they don't see men brandishing their weapons.

"We have nothing to do with the Americans, we stay away from them," he said. "We don't have salaries, but we hope the city council will pay for permanent night guards soon."