BAGHDAD, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. and Iraqi officials say they will transfer command of Sunni citizens' patrols to the Iraqi government next month.
The announcement means that the payment of the so-called Awakening Councils credited with helping cut the level of violence around Baghdad will become the responsibility of the Iraqi government, The New York Times said Tuesday.
Iraqi officials have been conducting background checks of Awakening Council members and will be ready to officially place them on the government payroll by Oct. 1.
"Once we finish and start paying them, we will do what's appropriate to do," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser. "Some will go to the police and some to the army and some to civilian jobs and some will stay at their regular stations."
The Times said the transfer agreement has many Awakening members -- and some U.S. commanders -- uneasy since it will give the Shiite-led Iraqi leadership the ability to disband them and possibly provide a new opening for al-Qaida insurgents.
