Iraq Shi'ites want own militia to defend holy city

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10351857.htm

NAJAF, Iraq, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslims, worried by attacks that have killed one eminent cleric and wounded another, say U.S. forces have failed to protect them in their holy cities and they want to defend themselves.

"If they are unable to protect our security, the people can protect themselves by themselves," Shi'ite cleric Mohammed Hussein al-Hakim said on Wednesday. "The Shi'ites have proved this after the fall of the (Saddam Hussein) regime."

Hakim and his father survived an assassination attempt last month just a few days before his relative, leading cleric Mohamed Baqer al-Hakim, was killed with more than 80 followers in a car bomb attack in the Sh'ite holy city of Najaf.

No one claimed responsibility for either attack, and it remains unclear whether the attackers were Shi'ite rivals, Saddam loyalists or another group.

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[jayfish]

1. Don't They Have Three Days..

to disarm? These folks have been on the short end of the American stick (they have always been on the short end of the Baath Party Stick)since the first Gulf War. We didn't protect them then and were aren't protecting them now. I think that we should accept the idea of local militias providing security for their own. All we would need to do is provide some oversight. A justice system needs to start somewhere.

Jay