Iraq is poised to deploy Shi'ite paramilitaries backed by Iran to Sunni tribal areas west of Baghdad, a move supporters say is needed to defeat Islamic State militants but opponents say could inflame more sectarian violence. Shi'ite paramilitaries have already played a central, if controversial, role alongside regular army units in recent months in the Iraqi government's first major successful campaign against Islamic State fighters, helping to capture Saddam Hussein's home town Tikrit on the Tigris River north of Baghdad. So far, however, the government has avoided deploying the militia in the Euphrates River valley province of Anbar west of the capital, a vast Sunni tribal homeland that strides the main routes to Jordan and Syria. Baghdad considers Anbar the next target in its campaign to retake territory from the militants. But with the army advance having faltered, officials are now speaking openly about dispatching the militia, organized under the umbrella of "Hashid Shaabi" - "Popular Mobilisation". This could alarm the United States, which is supporting the Iraqi government from the air against Islamic State fighters but is wary of Baghdad's alliance with Shi'ite militiamen who openly receive arms, funds and strategic direction from Iran. Some Anbar tribal figures fighting on the government side against Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, have issued calls in recent days for Baghdad to send the militia to their aid. "We must recognize that it will be too difficult for tribal fighters and security forces to defeat IS in Anbar," said Sheikh Ahmed al-Assafi, who commands a group of tribesmen fighting the militants and who met Shi'ite militia commander Qais al-Khazali to discuss the participation of the Hashid Shaabi in Anbar. But others say this would be a dangerous mistake, provoking tribesmen to rally behind Islamic State, which presents itself as a defender against Shi'ite militiamen responsible for atrocities. "If the Hashid enters (Anbar), in whatever guise, the situation will not stabilize," said Sheikh Ali Hammad, who fled to the northern Kurdish region from Fallujah, an Anbar city just west of Baghdad that is now largely held by Islamic State.
