Iraqi PM feuds with Kurds over militias

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country's Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government militias that could undermine the parties' power. Maliki expressed his "deep regret at the media escalation" over the so-called Support Councils, local tribal groups across Iraq who have allied with the government to help improve security in the war-torn country. "It was necessary to form the Support Councils to preserve law and order in the provinces that had seen a breakdown in security," Maliki said. The Kurdish parties have criticised the formation of the councils in mostly Kurdish areas, accusing Maliki of creating illegal proxies aimed at foiling their aspirations for a greater autonomous Kurdish region. The councils grew out of a larger movement, begun in the Sunni Anbar province in late 2006, whereby local tribes and families allied themselves with the government to drive out militias and other armed groups. The councils "were greatly welcomed by all the parties and powers, including the two Kurdish parties," Maliki said. "But this turned into opposition when, regrettably, some parties and some selfish people saw that the Support Councils started to threaten their projects when they conflicted with the higher national interest." Massud Barzani, the regional president of Iraq's three largely-autonomous Kurdish provinces, compared supporting the councils to "playing with fire" at a news conference in the northern city of Arbil. "The Support Councils were good in some districts but are not necessary in others, and they are not possible in Kurdistan or in disputed areas. It is a question of planting discord and playing with fire," he said. Earlier this week the two main Kurdish parties -- the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party -- slammed the councils as "unconstitutional" armed groups. The Kurds went on to compare the groups to the so-called "Jackass Brigades" -- groups of armed Kurds loyal to Saddam Hussein that fought the two Kurdish parties from the 1980s until the fall of his regime in 2003. The Kurds are particularly concerned about the Support Councils in mixed areas of the country such as the volatile northern city of Mosul and the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, both of which have large Kurdish populations. "The formation of Support Councils in Kirkuk and Mosul and other disputed areas will fan the flames of sectarian and ethnic tensions," the Kurdish deputy speaker of parliament Aref Tayfur said in a statement. Iraq's largest Shiite party, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, has voiced similar concerns about groups formed in the mostly Shiite south of the country, viewing them as an illegal extension of Maliki's power. The groups could play a major role in Iraqi provincial elections, which are slated for January 31 in 14 of the country's 18 provinces, and in the larger debate over the centralisation of power in the country.