Iraqi Parties Work Out Security Details

[ECH1969]

Iraqi political parties have agreed that every security checkpoint in Baghdad will have an equal number of Shiite and Sunni troops in an effort to ensure the security forces do not allow sectarian attacks, officials said Tuesday.

The arrangement was the first reached under a new four-point security plan announced by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki a week ago. It is aimed at uniting the divided parties behind security efforts to stop Shiite-Sunni killings that have killed thousands in Baghdad this year.

Al-Maliki's plan called for the creation of local Shiite-Sunni committees that will oversee policing in each district of Baghdad, reporting back to a Central Committee for Peace and Security to coordinate with the security forces and the prime minister.

For example, the troops at a checkpoint can keep an eye on each other to ensure neither side lets by a Shiite or a Sunni armed group to carry out an attack or covers up for a militia after an attack, he said.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/93-10102006-724706.html