Reporting for a story took me to Jami'a neighbourhood in west Baghdad this morning.

Jami'a was – and most probably still is to a certain extent a stronghold of al Qaida.

It became a ghost town during the height of sectarian violence. No cars moved down the main thoroughfare, no movement to be seen at all except empty plastic bags flying in the wind. No pedestrians ventured out on its dust-covered pavements.

Life has very slowly and hesitantly come back to Jami'a. Apprehensive, people only pass through there if they must.

As we drove through side streets that have witnessed terrible battles, something caught my attention. Houses were marked either with a check, or with an X. From previous experience I knew that this was the kind of thing that al Qaida did to "sort out" the residents: A Sunni house here – a Shiite house there.

I wanted to hear what people living in the neighbourhood thought about these marks, and why on earth they were still there. So I asked a man in the neighborhood.

"Al Qaida put some of those marks there. The check marked a Shiite house, and the X marked a Sunni house. And no one could paint over the mark or remove them for fear of their lives," he said.

The marks took a new meaning when the Iraqi army moved in with help from the Sahwa, tribal leaders who joined the government to fight al Qaida.  It's not clear why the army is using the marks.

"During regular search operations by the Iraqi army, servicemen started putting similar marks on the walls and gates of houses. Checks and Xs everywhere. We don't know, maybe it's a plan to confuse al Qaida. But whatever the reason, it's very scary to have such a mark on your wall, and we're afraid to remove them. I just hope that al Qaida will not act on them. They (al Qaida) are still around, you know."

My eyes went round. I thanked him very quietly, got into the car and we drove off.

But I kept thinking about those people; having to live in constant fear. I feel that the government is not doing all it can do to control the Sunni areas. It is as if the security in neighbourhoods like Jami'a, Ghazaliyah, Abu Ghraib and many more is of lesser importance. The government seems to be turning the other cheek. I mean I know – as do many Iraqis, that there is still Qaida activity in parts of Baghdad and in Diyala, and in Mosul and elsewhere – Why has the effort to stop them and weed them out gone cold?