Sunni councils handed off to Iraq gov't

BAGHDAD, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Security in Iraq is facing a key moment as control of the Sunni Awakening Councils is transferred to the Shiite-dominated government, officials said.

The armed paramilitary councils, also called the Sons of Iraq, were being paid by the U.S. military but starting this week the Iraqi government will begin providing the funding, although U.S. officials will distribute the money, USA Today reported Monday.

U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East, in August credited the Awakening Councils with effectively fighting al-Qaida extremism in Iraq. But because many Awakening Councils members are former Sunni insurgents who once battled Shiites allied with U.S. occupiers, the Iraqi government's relationship with them has been tense at best. That rift could give al-Qaida an opening to resume attacks, one official said.

"This could likely be al-Qaida's last big chance here in Baghdad to try and take down a key element of our security," U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, told Iraqi officers recently, USA Today reported.

The newspaper said the Sons of Iraq represented a bigger force in Baghdad than the Iraqi army and national police combined.