Friday, October 06, 2006
Sunni insurgent group offer to open negotiations
Politics, Insurgency
A purported spokesman for a Sunni insurgent group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, offered to open negotiations with the Americans in an audiotape aired by Al-Jazeera television on Thursday. The tape was said to be from Ibrahim al-Shimmari, whose name has appeared in past statements by the group, which has claimed responsibility for a number of suicide bombings against civilians and attacks on U.S. troops. The tape's authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
Al-Shimmari has offered such negotiations in past statements. He did not elaborate on the goal of any talks. The Islamic Army rejected a call from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier this year for insurgents to join the political process, saying it would not participate until there was a timetable for withdrawal of U.S.-led forces. In sections of the tape not aired, the speaker on the tape said Iraq faces occupation by two powers — "the Crusader Americans and the Iranians ... and the latter is the more dangerous," Al-Jazeera reported. He said his group was allied to former al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed June by a U.S. airstrike. But the speaker criticised al-Zarqawi, saying he "committed some mistakes," including the killing of four Russian embassy workers who were kidnapped, then slain in late June.
Al-Shimmari has offered such negotiations in past statements. He did not elaborate on the goal of any talks. The Islamic Army rejected a call from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier this year for insurgents to join the political process, saying it would not participate until there was a timetable for withdrawal of U.S.-led forces. In sections of the tape not aired, the speaker on the tape said Iraq faces occupation by two powers — "the Crusader Americans and the Iranians ... and the latter is the more dangerous," Al-Jazeera reported. He said his group was allied to former al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed June by a U.S. airstrike. But the speaker criticised al-Zarqawi, saying he "committed some mistakes," including the killing of four Russian embassy workers who were kidnapped, then slain in late June.
COMMENT: The Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) is an inclusive Islamic organisation with Iraqi nationalist tendencies. The group has initiated a brutally violent campaign against foreigners within Iraq, specifically anyone believed to be cooperating with the U.S.-led coalition. IAI has been implicated in several gruesome beheading deaths. Often, IAI will kidnap an individual or group of people and then make an overarching demand. Frequently, these demands are indirectly related to the kidnapping victims. IAI does not limit its terrorist attacks to non-Iraqis; the group has also executed Iraqi people who join Iraq’s police and military services. The group’s leader claims that the group is predominantly Iraqi, not foreign-born. COMMENT ENDS.
