Al-Qaeda threat reduced - US

2007-10-29 07:27

Camp Speicher, Iraq - The threat from al-Qaeda in several former strongholds in Baghdad has been significantly reduced, but Iraqis face new threats from criminals who have established "almost mafia-like presence" in certain areas, the top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said on Sunday.

Petraeus stressed, however, that the terror organisation remained "a very dangerous and very lethal enemy" and said the military would maintain pressure to keep them from regrouping.

"Its presence has been significantly reduced and its activity and freedom of action have been degraded" Petraeus told a small group of reporters at a US base near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, 130km north of Baghdad.

'Focus on crime in some neighbourhoods'

He singled out success in what had been some of the most volatile Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad, including Ghazaliyah, Amariyah, Azamiyah and Dora.

But he said the reduced threat from al-Qaeda had given way to non-sectarian crimes - kidnapping, corruption in the oil industry and extortion.

"As the terrible extremist threat of al-Qaeda has been somewhat reduced, there is in some Iraqi neighbourhoods actually a focus on crime and on extortion that has been ongoing and kidnapping cells and what is almost a mafia-like presence in certain areas," he said.

He also said the reduced threat from al-Qaeda had given the military manoeuvring space to go after Shi'ite militia fighters.

"As they have been forced out of certain sanctuaries, the relative significance of splinter groups of militia extremists has achieved greater prominence, and this is a concern shared by the Iraqi government," he said.

Petraeus made his comments after a transition ceremony as the 1st Armoured Division, which is based in Wiesbaden, Germany, assumed command of northern Iraq from the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division.

The new commander for the region, Major General Mark Hertling, said he was taking over with violence sharply reduced in the region, which included several al-Qaeda strongholds.

- AP