Al-Dabbagh: The Iraqi Government will not abandon the Awakening Elements

The official spokesman for the Government of Iraq, Dr. Ali Al-Dabbagh announced that the Iraqi government will take in the awakening elements and it will not abandon them. He added saying that they helped in stabilizing the security situation, applying the law, and defeating terrorist groups and cells of Al Qaeda. A number of them will be subject to professional training courses to facilitate their reintegration into society, and help them to contribute in the reconstruction campaigns. This came in a TV interview with the Alarabia satellite channel.

Al-Dabbagh explained that the Iraqi Government needs to vet the additional numbers of the awakening elements that have been contracted by U.S. forces. It also needs to conduct personal interviews with them to verify their actual existence, and to also deal with the presence of infiltration by some elements into the awakenings who might have carried out suspicious activities and assassinations that even reached the awakening elements themselves.

Al-Dabbagh stressed that the Iraqi Government warns the elements threatening to return to hostile militant activities against Iraqi government forces. Such elements will be dealt with according to the Anti-Terrorism Law.