Najaf, Sept 07: The US-led coalition has set a Saturday deadline for the disarmament of militias that have taken to the streets of central Iraq since last month's deadly car bombing in the holy city of Najaf, a US military spokesman said today. "After that, we will take their arms away and, if they resist, we will arrest them and put them in jail," said Captain Edward Lofland, spokesman for the US Marines in Najaf.

Lofland told a news agency the coalition has asked the US-appointed Iraqi interim governing council to appeal to the various militia groups running the city to disarm voluntarily before the deadline. US officials have permitted some militiamen to operate as a protection force for Holy Shiite Muslim shrines here since the August 29 bombing that killed 83 people including a revered cleric.

But alongside the protection force, the militiamen of other groups have been mounting checkpoints and armed patrols in Najaf, creating the possibility of a showdown with US occupation forces. Lofland said the groups would have to be disarmed one way or another.

"We are here to protect the people of Najaf. We don't want to see any confrontation," he said. "It's better for us for them to do it themselves, rather than for us to do it ourselves."

But he warned: "We don't shy from that. We will not hesitate to disarm them by force if necessary." Bureau Report