| The United States believes that members of Iraqi militias should be allowed to join the US-trained Iraqi army only on an individual basis rather than in groups, a senior US official said on Monday. Iraq's new Prime Minister-designate Jawad al-Maliki said last weekend that powerful sectarian militias should be disbanded and merged with Iraq's military. Such a move would be highly sensitive since the militias are each tied to different ethnic groups and political parties. "It's a good proposal in principle but the devil is always in the details," the official said. "How you integrate them is important. It must be focused on individuals and not units." The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he did not want to stir up controversy, said merging entire militia groups with the military could cause new problems. "If it is done incorrectly then you will get infiltration and not integration," he said. "Some of them (militia groups) are disciplined and some are not." |