Monday, April 23, 2007
Fallujah city council chairman assassinated
Security, Politics, Tribal
(Al Jazeera) - The Falluja city council chairman, a critic of al-Qaeda in Iraq who took the job after his three predecessors were assassinated, was killed on Saturday. Sami Abdul-Amir al-Jumaili was shot down by attackers in a passing car as he was walking outside his home in central Falluja, 65km west of Baghdad, according to police. His assassination came a month after he raised his hand to take the dangerous job, promising to improve services and to work with the Americans to ease traffic-clogging checkpoints in the city with a population of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000.
The 65-year-old Sunni sheikh was the fourth city council chairman to be killed in some 14 months as fighters target fellow Sunnis willing to co-operate with the US and its Iraqi partners. The US military confirmed the killing and provincial officials condemned it. "He was one of the many good people of the province who worked to help the city of Falluja rebuild and regain life," the provincial government said in a statement.
Abdul-Amir's predecessor, Abbas Ali Hussein, who was shot to death on February 2. Both men were strong critics of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is battling a growing number of Sunni tribes that have turned against it in the vast Anbar province - a centre for anti-US militias since the uprising in Falluja in 2004 that galvanised the insurgency.
The attack comes as American officials have increasingly expressed optimism about efforts to tame Anbar, having struck alliances with influential Sunni sheikhs once arrayed against American-led forces. The tribes are competing with al-Qaeda for influence and control over diminishing territory in the face of US assaults. At least 38 people were killed or found dead elsewhere in Iraq, including another top city official, the mayor of Mussayyib who died in a roadside bombing in the city about 60km south of Baghdad.
(Al Jazeera) - The Falluja city council chairman, a critic of al-Qaeda in Iraq who took the job after his three predecessors were assassinated, was killed on Saturday. Sami Abdul-Amir al-Jumaili was shot down by attackers in a passing car as he was walking outside his home in central Falluja, 65km west of Baghdad, according to police. His assassination came a month after he raised his hand to take the dangerous job, promising to improve services and to work with the Americans to ease traffic-clogging checkpoints in the city with a population of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000.
The 65-year-old Sunni sheikh was the fourth city council chairman to be killed in some 14 months as fighters target fellow Sunnis willing to co-operate with the US and its Iraqi partners. The US military confirmed the killing and provincial officials condemned it. "He was one of the many good people of the province who worked to help the city of Falluja rebuild and regain life," the provincial government said in a statement.
Abdul-Amir's predecessor, Abbas Ali Hussein, who was shot to death on February 2. Both men were strong critics of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is battling a growing number of Sunni tribes that have turned against it in the vast Anbar province - a centre for anti-US militias since the uprising in Falluja in 2004 that galvanised the insurgency.
The attack comes as American officials have increasingly expressed optimism about efforts to tame Anbar, having struck alliances with influential Sunni sheikhs once arrayed against American-led forces. The tribes are competing with al-Qaeda for influence and control over diminishing territory in the face of US assaults. At least 38 people were killed or found dead elsewhere in Iraq, including another top city official, the mayor of Mussayyib who died in a roadside bombing in the city about 60km south of Baghdad.
COMMENT: This latest assassination will only intensify the fighting between the tribes who are anti-Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), spur their efforts to rid the area of the group and increase anti-AQI sentiment. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Abbas Ali Hussein, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Falluja city council chairman, mayor, Mussayab, Sami Abdul-Amir al-Jumaili
