NYT
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 8 - The rift between the Iraqi government and hostile Sunni Arabs widened further on Wednesday as the country's leaders came out in support of ethnic and sectarian militias that Sunnis fear could be used against them.
The announcement regarding militias was the first time the new government had publicly backed armed ethnic and sectarian groups, and it was an implicit rebuke to American officials, who have repeatedly asked that the government disband all militias in the country. The largest militias are the Kurdish pesh merga and an Iranian-trained Shiite militia that Sunni leaders have blamed for attacks against them.
The remarks were made at a morning news conference that was attended by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Arab; President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd and a militia leader himself; and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Shiite political party that created the Iranian-trained militia, known as the Badr Organization. The briefing was held in Mr. Hakim's headquarters to mark his militia's second anniversary in the new Iraq and to rebut recent criticisms of the Badr from Sunni leaders.
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