NAJAF, Iraq, 18 September 2003 — Beneath the golden dome of Najaf’s Imam Ali Mosque, newly deployed Iraqi police staff barriers in front of one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites. Colleagues patrol the area outside, piled onto the back of a pick-up truck armed with AK-47s. These are the new defenders of Iraq’s holiest Shi’ite city: Najaf’s Shrine Police.
The need for tighter security is evident. The area near the mosque was the scene of a huge car bomb attack on Aug. 29 which killed more than 80 Iraqis including a top cleric.
Some recruits said they had previously been involved in protecting holy sites in an unofficial capacity. This time they will be uniformed, armed and paid, and have been trained to search cars, make arrests, handcuff suspects and wield batons.
“Two days after (the bombing), we decided to join,” 25-year-old Ali Musa Jaffar said in a break between classes. “We had little experience...but since then we have been training from morning to afternoon, from afternoon to night.”
A branch of the regular Iraqi police force, the Shrine Police are tasked with protecting areas which Iraq’s US-led occupying forces have not been able to police because of cultural and religious sensitivities.
US Marines in Najaf said the decision to create a unit specifically for the holy sites was taken in conjunction with Iraqi authorities. “There were many cultural sensitivities associated with the city,” US Sgt. Maj. Henry Bergeron said. “The challenge was how to make security in a shrine area without a (US) presence.”
US officers said the formation of a Shrine Police had been agreed before the bomb attack, but was accelerated after it. The initial force will No. 400, many of whom are already deployed. There are plans to expand it to around 1,000 policemen, who would deploy at sites around Najaf and neighboring Kufa.
All recruits are volunteers and are trained by Iraqis. The Marines, who helped devise the training program, said 279 men had already graduated from a three-day course which recruits get in addition to basic police training.
Chief trainer Lt. Abbas Fadhil said more than 1,000 people applied for the 400 places. “It is very important to have a police specially for the shrines because of the things (bombing) that happened here,” he said. “They need to be specialized.”
Militias which previously controlled the area were given until last Tuesday to take their weapons indoors - no one except the Shrine Police and bodyguards protecting top clerics will be allowed to carry arms on the streets. US officials said the majority of militias had complied with the weapons ban.
