Outgoing Interior Minister Warns on Iran, Badr Corps

Falah al-Naqib, the interior minister in the expiring government of Iyad Allawi, warned Tuesday that melding the Shiite Badr Corps into the new Iraqi security forces would be a mistake. He also blamed Iranian intelligence for the rumors that Sunni guerrillas had taken over 100 Shiites hostage at Mada'in (a charge that is completely implausible, by the way).

Al-Naqib is a relic of the old Iraq. His father had been a high Baath official who broke with Saddam in the late 1970s and went to Scandinavia. A Sunni, Falah al-Naqib was brought in as interior minister by the ex-Baathist Iyad Allawi, a long-time CIA asset. The central officials of the Allawi government were secular ex-Baathists, many of whom sounded alarums about Iran.

In fact, Iran supported the recent elections and claims to have encouraged Iraqis to vote in them.

Al-Naqib said of the Badr Corps, "We are against multiplying security forces in Iraq. " He said that the entry of distinct units like the Badr Corps into the ministry of the interior would constitute a danger to the police force and other security agencies."