BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 8, 2004 — An ongoing effort to facilitate the Iraqi army’s transformation into a force committed to taking care of its soldiers is manifesting itself in the form of Imams - religious clergy - on site at the Kurkush Military Training Base roughly 70 miles northeast of Baghdad, according to Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq officials.

The effort to staff the religious leaders is part of the Iraqi government’s ongoing mission to stand up a viable security force in the country.

Currently the effort includes four Imams; two Shia and two Sunni religious leaders. Initial plans include the recruitment of 12 more Imams distributed amongst the recently opened base at An Numaniyah, the Taji Military Training Base and the

base at Umm Qasr, as mosques, under construction at each location, come on line.

Previously the now defunct Iraqi Ministry of Religion had vetted the Kurkush Imams. Future recruitment efforts for the civilian religious leaders will run through the Ministry of Cultural Affairs’ Departments of Shia and Sunni.

No dates have been slated for the Imam hiring’s at the bases.

The Shia and Sunni forms of Islam are the dominant religious followings in the country.