[Al Arabiya Latest] The Iraqi government has hired nearly 50,000 "Sons of Iraq", former insurgents who switched sides and helped U.S. forces battle al-Qaeda, and expects to absorb the rest by mid-year, an Iraqi official said on Tuesday.
The integration of some 90,000 members of the Sunni Muslim movement, also known as Sahwa, or Awakening, into neighborhood patrols was considered a turning point in the sectarian war that killed tens of thousands after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Many Sahwa were insurgent fighters aligned with al Qaeda before being lured across the battle lines, in part by payments of about $300 a month provided by the United States. |