Iraq prime minister warns political parties to get rid of militias or get out of politics

(AP) Political parties must either get rid of their militias or get out of politics, Iraq's prime minister said Thursday, in his toughest warning yet to groups blamed for the country's wave of sectarian violence.

Ahead of talks with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on how to stop the wave of Shiite-Sunni killings in Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Associated Press he was "optimistic" a political solution will be found to persuade militias to dissolve.

But once an agreement is reached, "the political solution must be obligatory, one that all parties adhere to," he said. "The presence of parties with militias in the government is not acceptable."

"The political parties must obey the decisions of the government or else get out of the political process. I don't believe there is any power that wants to leave the political process," he said, speaking during an "iftar" dinner, the meal that ends the daily Ramadan fast.

About three dozen people attended the special iftar, held amid intense security in a dining room in the compound of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the largest party in the Shiite coalition that dominates the government.

Outside, hundreds of guards from al-Hakim's party _ Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq _ were deployed in the streets throughout the south Baghdad neighborhood, carrying automatic weapons. SCIRI is accused of running its own militia, the Badr Brigade, though the party says it has been dissolved.

Among those present were al-Maliki's Cabinet, parliament members _ mainly from the Shiite coalition and a few Kurds and Sunnis _ and a few officials from the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein. They were served up with a feast of roast fish and meats with rice, followed by a wide spread of fruits and sweets and tea.

Al-Maliki is under intensified pressure to find an end to the Shiite-Sunni violence that has killed thousands of people this year and has threatened to tear the country apart. The killings have continued despite the prime minister's repeated calls for them to dissolve.

Several Shiite parties in al-Maliki's government have militias _ some of them blamed for grisly kidnapping-murders that nearly every day leave tortured and bound bodies of Sunnis dumped in neighborhoods of the capital.

Shiites have argued that militias are needed to protect them against Sunni insurgents who have targeted their community with brutal attacks against mosques, markets and other public areas. Shiite leaders have accused Sunni parties in the government of links to the insurgency. U.S. and Iraqi commanders have also said that some militia fighters may no longer be under the control of the parties, carrying out killings on their own.

Al-Maliki has frequently called for militias to be dissolved, insisting that weapons must only be in the hands of national security forces. But Sunni leaders have accused the government of balking at moving forcefully against Shiite militias because of their links to the government.

This past week, the government has taken new steps to show it is serious in tackling sectarian violence. On Sunday, al-Maliki announced a new security plan aimed at uniting the feuding Sunni and Shiite parties in his government behind the effort by joining them in local committees charged with directing security efforts.

Iraqi authorities on Wednesday pulled a brigade of about 700 policemen out of service in its biggest move ever to uproot troops linked to death squads. The brigade is suspected of allowing gunmen to kidnap 24 workers from a frozen food factory in a district of Baghdad where the Shiite Mahdi Army militia is known to have considerable power. The bodies of seven workers were found in another Baghdad district hours later; the fate of the others is unknown.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said similar action will be taken against any police unit suspected of connections to militias. "We in the Interior Ministry have decisive orders to deal firmly with this issue," he told reporters.

Al-Maliki underlined that only a political solution can bring a stop to the violence.

"The dissolving of militias cannot just be a matter of force. It requires many means to reach the goal, persuading the militias to dissolve themselves. That is better," he said. "The dissolution of militias must be through the political powers."

Earlier Wednesday, al-Maliki vowed in comments to Iraqi state TV that the country is in the final stage of "confronting the security challenge" and that security would be achieved "within the two or three months to come."

The suspended 8th Brigade _ numbering about 700 policemen _ has been ordered out of the field, and the U.S. military said they will undergo retraining while some members will be put under investigation.

Lt. Gen. Ahmed Mohammed Khalaf al-Jibouri, a senior Interior Ministry official, told state TV that the probe was focusing on the brigade's 2nd Battalion, whose commander has been detained for criminal investigation. The 8th Brigade's commander has been put under administrative investigation, al-Jabouri said.

U.S. and Iraqi troops have been carrying out an intensified sweep of the capital since August in an effort to put down militias and Sunni-led insurgents. At least 21 U.S. soldiers have been killed since Saturday, most in Baghdad in what commanders say is a reflection of the dangers of the sweep.

At least 13 people were killed in violence in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq on Thursday, a drop after two days of attacks that killed well over 80 people.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday that DNA tests are being conducted on a slain al-Qaida in Iraq suspect to determine if he is the group's leader. But U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday it did not appear that Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed.

The slain militant was among four al-Qaida suspects killed in the western Iraqi town of Haditha on Tuesday.