Iraqi armed forces are dissolved

Iraq’s armed forces and the security organisations that supported Saddam Hussein’s regime have been dissolved, and a new defence force will be set up to replace them, the country’s US-led administration said today.

“The Coalition Provisional Authority plans to create, in the near future, a New Iraqi Corps. This is the first step in forming a national self-defence capability for a free Iraq,” it said in a statement.

“Under civilian control, that Corps will be professional, non-political, militarily effective, and representative of all Iraqis,” it said.

The statement did not elaborate on when the new defence force would be set up. But US officials have in the past indicated it would include members of the army, navy and air force who were not compromised by their association to the banned Baath Party and who were not involved in criminal acts.

Under the new orders, the Defence Ministry and the Republican Guard have also been disbanded.

“The order suspends conscription, turns the property of the dissolved entities over to the Administration of the CPA, and dismisses all employees of the dissolved entities,” the statement said.

Today’s announcement follows the administration’s decree abolishing Saddam’s Baath Party and ordering the dismissal of party officials from the civil service.