Decree Outlaws Iraqi Militias In Effort to Bolster Security

U.S. officials have said in the past that Kurdish militias must melt into the national army at some point. The occupation officials explaining the ban, who wore button-down shirts and neckties despite Baghdad's stifling heat, insisted that, contrary to appearances, the arrangement for Kurdish fighters does not mean they remain militias under another name.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan field what amount to small armies, with organization and weaponry surpassing those of Iraq's other militias, officials said. In addition, they maintained, the history and geography of the Kurdish-administered area requires special military units of the kind that will remain under Kurdish command.

But Shaybani, the spokesman for Sadr, said the exception for the Kurds shows that Allawi's government does not exercise real power and could not impose its will on them, in part because their insistence on autonomy is supported by the United States.

"The pesh merga is an independent army, with a regional government," he said. "No Iraqi government can impose anything on that army or government."

On another subject, Shaybani said a large explosion Monday in a building adjoining the Kufa Mosque was caused by an electrical short circuit. Kufa, which lies next to Najaf about 90 miles south of Baghdad, had been the main focus of clashes between Mahdi Army fighters and U.S. troops until a cease-fire took effect Friday. Sadr frequently has led Friday prayers at the city's main mosque.

The U.S. military complained that Iraqi policemen who approached the scene of the explosion were fired on by Sadr's militiamen. Residents said the explosion came from Mahdi Army ammunition stored in the building. But Shaybani said flammable construction material was involved.

[A car bomb exploded Tuesday during morning rush hour outside a U.S. base north of Baghdad, killing four Iraqis and wounding 12 others, Iraqi police said. The explosion occurred 10 yards from the main gate of the Army's 1st Infantry Division base in Baqubah, 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.]

Special correspondent Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.