Maliki wooed tribes for Basra offensive

BAGHDAD, May 23 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki employed the help of tribal leaders in his military operation against Shiite militants in Basra.

U.S. officials told The Washington Times that while Maliki was ordering his troops into the streets of Basra, he was courting leaders of the Tamim tribe, an influential non-sectarian group in southern Iraq, to embrace his counterinsurgency efforts.

"Maliki worked directly with the Tamim leader," said Army Gen. Jack Keane, a top adviser to Gen. David Petraeus. "He worked with him in terms of providing Iraqi security forces to assist them and also some financial support."

Keane said the strategy employed by Maliki was modeled after the U.S. military plan to embrace the Sons of Iraqi paramilitary force of the Sunni tribal Awakening Councils. The U.S. military employed Sons of Iraq as a homegrown force fighting al-Qaida, The Times reported Friday.

"They are getting people to turn in the militias. That was the purpose of it, just like we did with the Sunnis in Anbar and Diyala provinces and other places," he said.

Keane added operations in Basra were seen as an important move to contain Iran and stabilize southern Iraq.