Anti Al-Qaeda Sahwa (Awakening) fighters gesture toward US troops patrolling a rural road during a sandstorm in Arab Jabur, 25 kms (15 miles) south of Baghdad on April 17, 2008. To help secure the cleared areas, the US military has hired hundreds of Sons of Iraq, as it calls the anti-Qaeda fronts it is setting up across the country, to man checkpoints and keep a watch for suspicious movements. AFP PHOTO/Mauricio LIMA