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Violence has dropped significantly in recent months after the United States sent thousands of troops to the capital. The improving security has been reinforced by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's decision to declare a six-month cease-fire and by the emergence of mostly Sunni tribal militias.
Those groups- known as Awakening Councils, or Concerned Local Citizens - have given U.S. and Iraqi forces a key advantage in seeking to clear extremist-held pockets in and around Baghdad.
"I wish peace and prosperity to our beloved country Iraq and hope all our brothers, sons and families who live abroad come back and God willing, during the next Eid all Iraqis will come together and peace, security and brotherhood will prevail," Abdul Jabbar Kadhim, an employee at the Dora oil refinery, told AP Television News as he played with his children in a riverside park.
Kadhim and hundreds of others took advantage of the reduced violence - there were no reported deaths by midday Saturday
- and of the brisk sunny day to picnic along the Tigris river. But unlike other parks around the world, people and cars were searched before entering
- and some park visitors said that added security gave them the confidence to visit.
This month, the U.S. military has reported a 60 percent decline in violence since June. According to figures compiled by The Associated Press, fewer than 600 Iraqi civilians and security forces have been killed so far in December. The figure was 2,309 in December 2006.
In the years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, attacks against civilians in Baghdad led thousands to flee the capital, mostly for neighboring countries. Many of those who remained huddled in their homes and neighborhoods, often behind large cement walls.
Many feared the suicide bombers who killed thousands by driving or walking into large crowds or restaurants, drive-by shooters and kidnap gangs that often rounded up more than 100 people at a time. Many of the city's neighborhoods had a deserted feel to them and others were redrawn along sectarian lines.
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 But the volunteer groups that have helped bring a measure of safety are also demanding jobs with the Iraqi security forces.
The Shiite-led government has been slow to respond, despite Washington's fears that the tribal support could collapse into chaos without swift integration into the existing forces.
Mixed messages were delivered Friday by the head of the nation's biggest Shiite political party.
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraq Council, praised the help of the Sunni militias
- comments that could increase pressure on the government to open more room for the fighters.
But he also insisted the groups must submit to government authority, reflecting Shiite worries that the armed Sunni factions could evolve into a rebel movement.
"I want to remind people about the role that our police and army forces are playing, as well the Awakening Councils and the tribes," al-Hakim told about 5,000 faithful during a sermon in southwest Baghdad on Friday. "They are practicing an honorable national role, they are expressing the unity of Iraqis in confronting the enemies of Iraq."
Al-Hakim tempered his praise of the tribal fighters with a warning that they must remain "on the side of the government in chasing terrorists and criminals, but not be a substitute for it."
"Weapons should be within the hands of the government only," he added.
He insisted the groups should be active only in areas where there is sustained fighting
- such as Diyala - but that they should stand down in less volatile areas, fearing the Sunni factions will stir up sectarian strife.
Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, the U.S. military spokesman, said more than 71,000 Iraqis have joined the irregular militia groups. An estimated 21,000 are interested in serving in the Iraqi security forces, he added. Iraq's government has said it will pay to provide vocational training for the rest.
[Associated
Press; By PATRICK QUINN]
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