Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has defended the Kurdish peshmerga militia, insisting they were a “regulated force”. “Peshmerga is not a militia. It is a regulated force,” Talabani, a Kurd, said at a joint news conference with US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, in Arbil and telecast live on Al-Iraqiya state-television. The United States has consistently called for the dismantling of Shiite-led militias in Iraq, blamed for a large number of killings in ongoing sectarian violence across the country. Full Story