Baghdad  - In a further sign of deteriorating relations between Iraq's government and Sunni militias enlisted to fight insurgents, militiamen in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, left their posts on Thursday, following their leader's resignation.

Militia leader Karim Ismail al-Zubai, better known as "Abu Maruf," submitted his resignation to the government and to the national head of the Awakening Councils, a senior source in the Iraqi government told the German Press Agency dpa on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said al-Zubai was protesting the arrest by Iraqi security forces of four of his bodyguards, including his son and nephew, and that the militiamen under al-Zubai's command left their posts in Abu Ghraib shortly afterward.

Three years ago, the US military and the Iraqi government enticed tens of thousands of Sunnis, including former soldiers and insurgents, to fight insurgent groups in Sunni areas in exchange for money, weapons, and training.

The programme resulted in the capture of important insurgent leaders, and was widely credited for reducing violence across the country.

In late March, the US military passed control of the Awakening Councils to the government of Iraq, which is now dominated by Shiites and Kurds.

The night after the transfer formally took place, a US war plane opened fire on four men, guarded by lookouts, who had been spotted planting a bomb by the side of a road near the US military base at Taji, north of Baghdad.

In the weeks running up to the transfer, Iraqi security forces began arresting members of the Awakening Councils, charging that they were insurgents and supporters of the former ruling Baath party.

Clashes broke out in the Baghdad slum of Fadhil when Iraqi security forces arrested Adil al-Mashhadani, the head of the local Awakening Council.

It took Iraqi soldiers, backed by US troops, two days to quell the uprising that followed. At least 15 people were killed in the fighting, and security forces acknowledged that hundreds may have escaped with their weapons. (dpa)