Sunday, October 01, 2006
Anbar tribes clash over bid to support al-Maliki
Tribal
An insurgent website announced that leaders from several clans of the Dulaim tribe met on Saturday in Ramadi at an Iftar banquet held at the residence of a tribal leader from the Mahamda clan, known for its strong support for the insurgency. The tribal chiefs decided to excommunicate and ‘shed the blood’ of tribal leaders who had pledged to fight Al-Qaeda fighters in Anbar during meetings with PM Nuri Al-Maliki and American military commanders at Baghdad.
The tribal leaders are: Sheikh Sattar Bizai’ Al-Fitaikhan, leader of the Al-Bu Risha clan; Sheikh Hameed Farhan, of the Al-Bu Dhiyab clan; Sheikh Amer Ali Al-Salman, of the Al-Bu Assaf clan; and Sheikh Khalaf Al-Tarmouz, of the Al-Bu Ghanim clan. All are influential leaders of the Dulaim tribe. An ultimatum was sent to their family members to disavow them within three days. Their clan members will meet to elect new leaders at a forthcoming meeting in an undisclosed location at Ramadi. Sheikh Sattar Bizai’ Al-Fitaikhan had announced Friday that his clansmen had captured five Al-Qaeda members, three of whom were Yemeni, between Ramadi and Hit in the Anbar governorate. The 1st and 7th divisions of the Iraqi army backed by American troops are still stationed near entry points to Ramadi.
COMMENT: The clash follows an annoucement on Wednesday by Sattar al-Buzayi, a Sunni sheikh from Anbar province who has emerged in recent weeks as a leader of a tribal alliance against Osama bin Laden's followers, saying he and about 15 other sheikhs had offered their cooperation to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. This latest development could indicate an increase in violence as tribal disputes increase, pro-insurgency tribes provide continued support to militants and combat Iraqi and U.S. security forces, and al-Maliki loses more of the valuable tribal support in the struggle to contain the violence at a time when there aren't enough Iraqi forces to control the al-Anbar province and the Americans decrease their postion there in order to attempt to combat the militias in Baghdad. COMMENT ENDS.
