Iraq says won't disband police despite U.S. report

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Interior Ministry said on Thursday it would not disband the national police despite a report by an independent U.S. panel that will recommend scrapping and reorganizing the force.

But police interviewed by Reuters on the streets of Baghdad spoke despairingly of a force they saw as harboring criminal elements, too weak to tackle militias and with many police loyal to their sect rather than the state.

"The national police have proven operationally ineffective," said the panel headed by retired General James Jones, the former top U.S. military commander in Europe.

"Sectarianism in its units undermines its ability to provide security; the force is not viable in its current form," the report said. "The national police should be disbanded and reorganized."


Read more: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-09-06T145102Z_01_COL638041_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-POLICE-COL.XML