BAGHDAD, May 3 (Reuters) - The commander of Iraq's ground forces said on Wednesday he would not tolerate soldiers' protests against their deployment orders after a near-mutiny at the weekend by army recruits.
In an embarrassing episode for the U.S.-trained army, hundreds of young Sunni Arabs staged a rowdy protest during a graduation parade in Anbar province on Sunday after learning they would be posted away from their home towns.
"These people joined the army and were assigned to one area but they bypassed the army's conditions. We don't need people who put their conditions above the army's conditions," Lieutenant-General Abdul Qader told reporters.
The incident, broadcast on Arab satellite television stations, illustrated some of the challenges faced by U.S. and Iraqi officials in increasing recruitment and retaining recruits among the Sunni minority to broaden the sectarian and ethnic mix of the army, which is fighting a largely Sunni insurgency.
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