Few Sunni refugees returning to Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Some Sunni Arabs who were forced to flee their homes in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods are returning but millions are still refugees, observers say.

Roughly 325 of the more than 7,000 Sunni families who fled the city's sprawling, formerly mixed Hurriyah neighborhood have returned in recent weeks, buoyed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's moves to crack down on Shiite militias that persecuted them, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

But others said they doubt the sectarian rifts will heal soon and many Sunnis said they don't believe the city's police force, which contains many former militia members, will protect them. Some 5 million Iraqis remain refugees, the International Organization for Migration has estimated, the Post said.

"It will take a very strong law to bring Sunnis back to Hurriyah," a unnamed senior Shiite police official told the newspaper. "As Iraqis, it is difficult for us to forget those who were killed. It needs a long time."

Col. William Hickman, a U.S. Army commander working with Iraqi security forces to bring Sunnis back to Hurriyah, told the Post, "This will be a long and controlled process."