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Source: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/14685601.htm
Iranian-Backed Militia Groups Take Control in Southern Iraq
(Knight Ridder) Tom Lasseter - Southern Iraq is now dominated by Shiite Muslim warlords and militiamen who are laying the groundwork for an Islamic fundamentalist government, say senior British and Iraqi officials in the area. The militias appear to be supported by Iranian intelligence or military units that are shipping weapons to the militias in Iraq and providing training for them in Iran. "People are training on the other side of the border and then coming back," said Lt. Col. David Labouchere, who commands British units in the province of Maysan, north of Basra. "Saudi Arabia is trying to counter the rising power of Iran in Basra by giving money and weapons to fanatical Sunni groups operating there," said a senior Iraqi Ministry of Defense official in the city.