Monday, October 08, 2007
Iraqi govt releases video confessions from Shiite cult after Najaf battle in January
Security
(Reuters) - The Iraqi government on Monday released video confessions from followers of a Shi'ite cult arrested after a major battle with U.S. and Iraqi forces in January near the holy city of Najaf. One of the confessions said the cult leader slain in the battle had met critics of the Iraqi government, including the country's first post-war prime minister Iyad Allawi.
The fierce battle in the area of Zarga, north of Najaf, left 220 militants dead, including spiritual leader Dhia al-Garrawi. Iraq said the heavily-armed group planned to assassinate top Shi'ite scholars to destabilise the country. Riyadh al-Garrawi, who was captured after the fighting, said on the video confession that his brother, Dhia, had met both Allawi and Sunni cleric Harith al-Dari outside Iraq.
Dhia al-Garrawi had proclaimed himself the Mahdi, a messiah-like figure in Islam, and had a cult following. Allawi and Dari, both of whom spend most of their time abroad, are very critical of the Iraqi government and Dari has often accused it of forcing confessions from detainees for political ends. "(Dhia) requested me to arrange an interview with Allawi and (an intermediary) arranged a meeting with Allawi in Jordan," Riyadh al-Garrawi said on the video, shown at an Interior Ministry news conference.
He said Dhia also met Sunni cleric Dari at least twice to discuss political issues, in Syria's capital Damascus and the Gulf emirate of Dubai. "He told me they debated politics and agreed they were against federalism and favoured a secular state," he said.
Usama al-Nujeyfi, a lawmaker from Allawi's bloc, called the investigation results a sham. "It's not a proper investigation, it's all politicised. Dr. Allawi is a national leader who rejects violence in all its forms," he told Reuters. Dari was not immediately available for comment on the video confession.
The fierce battle in the area of Zarga, north of Najaf, left 220 militants dead, including spiritual leader Dhia al-Garrawi. Iraq said the heavily-armed group planned to assassinate top Shi'ite scholars to destabilise the country. Riyadh al-Garrawi, who was captured after the fighting, said on the video confession that his brother, Dhia, had met both Allawi and Sunni cleric Harith al-Dari outside Iraq.
Dhia al-Garrawi had proclaimed himself the Mahdi, a messiah-like figure in Islam, and had a cult following. Allawi and Dari, both of whom spend most of their time abroad, are very critical of the Iraqi government and Dari has often accused it of forcing confessions from detainees for political ends. "(Dhia) requested me to arrange an interview with Allawi and (an intermediary) arranged a meeting with Allawi in Jordan," Riyadh al-Garrawi said on the video, shown at an Interior Ministry news conference.
He said Dhia also met Sunni cleric Dari at least twice to discuss political issues, in Syria's capital Damascus and the Gulf emirate of Dubai. "He told me they debated politics and agreed they were against federalism and favoured a secular state," he said.
Usama al-Nujeyfi, a lawmaker from Allawi's bloc, called the investigation results a sham. "It's not a proper investigation, it's all politicised. Dr. Allawi is a national leader who rejects violence in all its forms," he told Reuters. Dari was not immediately available for comment on the video confession.
Labels: Dhia al-Garrawi, Harith al-Dari, Iyad Allawi, Najaf, Riyadh al-Garrawi, Shiite cult, Zarga
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Association of Muslim Scholars turns against Al Qaeda
Insurgency
(TIME) - Al-Qaeda has lost its most powerful friend in Iraq: Harith al-Dari, the country's most influential Sunni cleric and a prominent anti-American figure, has rejected al-Qaeda's vision of an Islamic state, telling TIME that Iraqis "will not accept such a system." In a sharp departure from his long-standing view of the terror group, al-Dari now says al-Qaeda has "gone too far." He also repudiates recent statements on Iraq by Osama bin Laden's deputy, saying: "Ayman al-Zawahiri doesn't represent Iraqis."
But al-Dari's change of heart on al-Qaeda is not necessarily good news for the Bush administration. The Sunni cleric remains an implacable foe of the U.S. occupation, and of the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He is dismissive of the "surge" in Baghdad, insisting that no solution to Iraq's problems is possible while American troops remain -- and rejects as "insincere and meaningless" al-Maliki's efforts to reach out to the Sunnis.
As leader of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the largest Sunni clerical body, al-Dari is the sect's most prominent figure in Iraq. Many U.S. military commanders and Iraqi government officials believe he is the spiritual head of the insurgency, and accuse his son Muthanna of personally commanding a deadly terror group known as the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution (named after an anti-British uprising led by Harith al-Dari's grandfather). Both al-Daris deny direct connection with the Brigades, but say Sunni insurgent groups are part of a legitimate, nationalist resistance to occupation. He has given religious sanction to some of the insurgency's more controversial tactics, such as kidnapping and killing foreigners, citing precedents from Islamic history.
In the past, Harith al-Dari and other AMS figures have given at least tacit backing -- and occasionally open support -- to al-Qaeda, believing the terror group would help the Sunni insurgency achieve its goal of driving American forces from Iraq. But in recent months, many Sunni leaders have grown uncomfortable with al-Qaeda's indiscriminate bombing campaign, which targets Iraqi civilians more often than U.S. forces. Now, al-Dari says, insurgent groups "have changed their view of Al-Qaeda."
Al-Dari says the "harsh actions" -- suicide bombings and attacks on civilian targets -- of al-Qaeda's foreign fighters in Iraq are "unacceptable." He also accuses the group of trying to take over sole command of the fight against the Americans, pushing aside home-grown insurgent groups. But there may also be a personal reason for al-Dari's change of heart: his nephew, also known as Harith and a top commander of the Brigades, was murdered by al-Qaeda in March.
But al-Dari's change of heart on al-Qaeda is not necessarily good news for the Bush administration. The Sunni cleric remains an implacable foe of the U.S. occupation, and of the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He is dismissive of the "surge" in Baghdad, insisting that no solution to Iraq's problems is possible while American troops remain -- and rejects as "insincere and meaningless" al-Maliki's efforts to reach out to the Sunnis.
As leader of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the largest Sunni clerical body, al-Dari is the sect's most prominent figure in Iraq. Many U.S. military commanders and Iraqi government officials believe he is the spiritual head of the insurgency, and accuse his son Muthanna of personally commanding a deadly terror group known as the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution (named after an anti-British uprising led by Harith al-Dari's grandfather). Both al-Daris deny direct connection with the Brigades, but say Sunni insurgent groups are part of a legitimate, nationalist resistance to occupation. He has given religious sanction to some of the insurgency's more controversial tactics, such as kidnapping and killing foreigners, citing precedents from Islamic history.
In the past, Harith al-Dari and other AMS figures have given at least tacit backing -- and occasionally open support -- to al-Qaeda, believing the terror group would help the Sunni insurgency achieve its goal of driving American forces from Iraq. But in recent months, many Sunni leaders have grown uncomfortable with al-Qaeda's indiscriminate bombing campaign, which targets Iraqi civilians more often than U.S. forces. Now, al-Dari says, insurgent groups "have changed their view of Al-Qaeda."
Al-Dari says the "harsh actions" -- suicide bombings and attacks on civilian targets -- of al-Qaeda's foreign fighters in Iraq are "unacceptable." He also accuses the group of trying to take over sole command of the fight against the Americans, pushing aside home-grown insurgent groups. But there may also be a personal reason for al-Dari's change of heart: his nephew, also known as Harith and a top commander of the Brigades, was murdered by al-Qaeda in March.
Labels: Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Harith al-Dari, Muslim Scholars Association, the 1920 Revolution Brigades
