BAGHDAD — In a dramatic revelation after a series of major security breaches, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has linked the assassinations of security officials to his government and said a “militia” of more than 400 men had been set up within the Interior Ministry, answerable only to an outside political figure he didn’t name.
Speaking before his Cabinet in a live television broadcast late Tuesday, al-Maliki said “investigations, investigating committees and confessions” had indicated that assassinations were carried out using “government weapons, government cars and government IDs.”
Some operations “have been done under the cover of some officials, in some ministries,” he said, without going into detail.
“It’s one thing to face an enemy that doesn’t have real capabilities,” he said. “But if the enemy is within your lines and doesn’t believe in the political process, the enemy will take benefit from government facilities to carry out these actions.”
Al-Maliki blamed the country’s continuing insecurity on political interference in the security ministries during the period after the March 2010 elections, when Iraq’s politicians were arguing about forming a government.
