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InvisibleLuddite
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Registered: 03/23/06
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Sunnis and Shias appeal for British to stay on
    #6455970 - 01/13/07 03:30 PM (17 years, 2 months ago)

Sunnis and Shias appeal for British to stay on
By Thomas Harding in Az Zubayr, southern Iraq
Last Updated: 2:06am GMT 13/01/2007

Iraqi leaders yesterday condemned Britain's decision to withdraw troops saying it would lead to a bloodbath and ethnic cleansing.

After The Daily Telegraph revealed that troop numbers would be reduced by almost 3,000 to 4,500 at the end of May and withdrawn to a single base outside Basra, local party chiefs were shocked to discover that they were about to be abandoned.

They asked that Tony Blair keep British troops in the towns to prevent the slaughter and forced expulsion of thousands of Sunnis, the minority in the Shia dominated south.

The Prime Minister has always promised that Britain would never leave Iraq "until the job is done".

The town of Az Zubayr is unique in Iraq in that its 60,000 Sunni residents live in harmony with the 460,000 Shias. People from the two Islamic branches live next door to each other, a state of affairs unthinkable in Baghdad. "The decision to withdraw is wrong and the British have the responsibility to protect us," said Sheik Abdul Kareem Al Dusari. "The situation in Az Zubayr is good now because the rogue militias are asleep but if the British leave they will awaken."


The leader of the Sunni-dominated Iraqi Islamic Party said Shia militias planned to plant car bombs in Shia areas and blame the killings on Sunnis.

That would create an excuse to attack them and effectively lead to Basra province being ethnically cleansed, he said.

Already the Sunni population in the province has dropped from 500,000 to 200,000 since the invasion of 2003 with many fleeing Iraq or joining their fellow believers in central Iraq.

Sheik Kareem believed that the militia were entirely backed by Iran which wanted to dominate the area.

"I request the British people and commanders to keep British forces working in Az Zubayr until the Iraqi security forces have the authority to run affairs," he said. "If I inform the Sunni people of Az Zubayr that the British are leaving they will leave too."

He said that once the militias became aware the British were leaving they would prepare to move into Az Zubayr to overrun the police.

The sheik's pleas were even echoed by the rival Shia-backed Tharallah party. Salan Maki Mohana, the party leader in Az Zubayr, said it would be "very dangerous" for the British to leave.

"Lots of people will take advantage of the bad security," he said.

The Army had brought some major beneficial projects to the town including its hospital, schools, water and electricity, he said.

At the end of last year, Muthanna province was handed over to local Iraqi control but since then the area had come under the sway of militias.

Similarly the volatile town of Amarah, which the British pulled out of in October, has now become a "no go zone" under the sway of the dominant cleric Moqtada al Sadr, the fundamentalist leader of the major Shia party.

There are fears that the same will happen to Basra province if the British pull back to the base five miles outside the town in June.

"If the British leave this area there is no security because security depends absolutely on them," said Moslem Hussayn, the local council leader.

"I am the democratically elected chairman of the town council and I call on the British government to keep her forces working in Az Zubayr. We need them here until the Iraqi security forces are fully qualified for at least two years."

If the Army withdrew they would "destroy all they have achieved here in the last four years", he said.

Lt Col Ali Enad, the chief of police, an Iraqi marine who fought in the country's last three major wars, said it was now more important than ever for the British to remain for the "dangerous stage" of political fighting.

"It is not a suitable time to walk away," he said. "If you go it is a great problem for security as we will have no backbone for the police or army."

Lt Col Andrew Jackson, the commanding officer of 1 Bn the Yorkshire Regiment which oversees Az Zubayr, said the withdrawal of his troops depended on how the security situation unfolded but there was confidence in the Iraqi army's competence.

"There is a degree of nervousness in what happens when we leave," he said.

"But even if we do start to patrol less in Az Zubayr it will by no means mean that British are leaving Basra province."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/12/wiraq712.xml

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