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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: Gunmen refuse to disarm
BAGHDAD, 26 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - Abu Zaineb, 56, is one of the most well known small arms dealers in Baghdad. He sells guns under the table in his upmarket shop in Mansour, one of the capital’s most prestigious districts.
“People need to protect themselves from the ongoing violence in Iraq and my job is to support them doing that. With the official prohibition on selling weapons, we are being forced to work through the black market. I am just trying to help people stay safe and not become victims of sectarian violence,” Abu Zaineb said.
He says the AK-47 Kalashnikov sub-machine gun is the most popular weapon for his customers and costs around US $100. Handguns and assault rifles are also available on the black market. Most of these small arms are smuggled into the country from Iran and Syria, according to the shopkeeper.
This week, from 24 to 30 October, is United Nations Disarmament Week. While the UN has called on all governments to “increase public understanding of the urgent tasks of disarmament”, little progress has been made in Iraq.
Despite government efforts to stop the sale of weapons in Iraq, many shopkeepers are involved in this lucrative black market business and are selling guns to militia fighters and insurgents also. The result is a grisly daily death toll.
There was a 50 percent increase in the number of violent deaths in Iraq over the past two months compared to the same period last year, according to the central morgue, which cited sectarian violence as the reason for the increase.
Disarming militias is part of the country’s 24-point national reconciliation plan proposed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on 25 June. However, many armed Iraqi factions have rejected the proposal.
Earlier this month, US government officials urged the Iraqi government to take immediate action to disarm the militias, but this has yet to happen. On 16 October, al-Maliki said in a press interview that the government will not force militias to disarm until later this year or early next year, despite escalating violence in Baghdad fuelled by death squads and sectarian clashes.
Disarming is essential
Iraqi specialists say that despite dialogue with militia and insurgent groups, the government has not tackled the problem.
Lt. Col. Khalid Jua’ad, a professor at the Institute for Military and Strategic Studies in Baghdad, told IRIN on Thursday that the delay in disarming the militias and insurgent groups will increase violence.
“Disarming militias should be the first step taken by the government to prevent more deaths,” he said. “Weapons in Iraq are used not to protect [citizens] but to promote violence. About 25 militias and 18 insurgent groups are operating in Iraq today and this is unacceptable.”
The Iraqi Ministry of Defence refused to comment on the disarmament process.
Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Iraqi Accordance Front and the most prominent Sunni member of the Iraqi parliament, has called on the government to resign if it fails to disarm Shi’ite militias, such as the Mahdi Army and Badr Brigade, two of the most prominent.
Many Sunni districts in the capital have been under constant attack by such militias since February this year, when a revered Shi’ite shrine was bombed in the northern city of Samarra. In Sunni areas of Baghdad now, some local police stations remain closed for fear of being attacked.
“We were forced to ask the US troops to help in protecting such districts because the local police were unable to stop militia action,” al-Dulaimi said. “More people will die and there will be more revolt against the Iraqi government. We have to find a solution to minimise this increasing violence.”
However, Shi’ite factions said that disarming their militias will just open the door for Sunni insurgents, especially al-Qaeda, to kill members of the Shi’ite community.
“We are not going to disarm our militia because we are just trying to protect our brothers [against Sunni insurgents] who cannot protect themselves. The Iraqi government is not able to maintain security in Iraq and we will not depend on their slow action,” said Ali al-Khalifa, a spokesman for Shi’ite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
“We do not want to be the next victims of insurgents and we will only lay down our guns when insurgents do the same,” al-Khalifa said.
Baghdad residents say too much time is being taken to resolve the issue.
“Corpses can be seen every day on the streets of Baghdad. We never know when we wake up in the morning whether we are going to be alive [by the end of the day] or whether a militia member will shoot us because we are Sunni or whatever,” Salam al-Saturi, a shopkeeper in the capital, said.
“Today we do not know who is on our side and who is against us. When you are out on the streets of the capital, you can expect that anytime someone will come and kill you just because of your religious belief,” Abu Maruan, a painter in Baghdad, said.
as/ar/ed
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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