Friday, October 12, 2007
Major insurgent groups announce formation of political council
Insurgency, Politics
(AP) -- Six main Iraqi insurgent groups announced the formation of a "political council" aimed at "liberating" Iraq from U.S. occupation in a video aired Thursday on Al-Jazeera television. The council appeared to be a new attempt to assert the leadership of the groups, which have moved to distance themselves from another coalition of insurgent factions led by al-Qaida in Iraq. In the video aired on Al-Jazeera, a man identified as the council's spokesman - wearing traditional Iraqi garb, with his face blacked out - announced the council's formation and a "political program to liberate Iraq."
He said the program was based on two principles. "First, the occupation is an oppression and aggression, rejected by Islamic Sharia law and tradition. Resistance of occupation is a right guaranteed by all religions and laws," he said. "Second, the armed resistance ... is the legitimate representative of Iraq. It is the one that bears responsibility for the leadership of the people to achieve its legitimate hope."
The groups forming the council include the Islamic Army of Iraq, the Mujahideen Army, Ansar al-Sunna, the Fatiheen Army, the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Jami) and the Islamic Movement of Hamas-Iraq. The step could be a bid by the insurgents for a more cohesive political voice at a time of considerable rearrangement among Sunni insurgent groups and Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
Splinter factions of two insurgent groups, the 1920 Revolution Brigades and the Mujahideen Army, have cooperated with U.S. forces in fighting insurgents allied to al-Qaida in Iraq. Earlier this year, other groups - the Islamic Army of Iraq, the main faction of the Mujahideen Army, a branch of Ansar al-Sunna and the Fatiheen Army - formed a coalition called the Jihad and Reform Front opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq, though they have continued attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.
He said the program was based on two principles. "First, the occupation is an oppression and aggression, rejected by Islamic Sharia law and tradition. Resistance of occupation is a right guaranteed by all religions and laws," he said. "Second, the armed resistance ... is the legitimate representative of Iraq. It is the one that bears responsibility for the leadership of the people to achieve its legitimate hope."
The groups forming the council include the Islamic Army of Iraq, the Mujahideen Army, Ansar al-Sunna, the Fatiheen Army, the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Jami) and the Islamic Movement of Hamas-Iraq. The step could be a bid by the insurgents for a more cohesive political voice at a time of considerable rearrangement among Sunni insurgent groups and Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
Splinter factions of two insurgent groups, the 1920 Revolution Brigades and the Mujahideen Army, have cooperated with U.S. forces in fighting insurgents allied to al-Qaida in Iraq. Earlier this year, other groups - the Islamic Army of Iraq, the main faction of the Mujahideen Army, a branch of Ansar al-Sunna and the Fatiheen Army - formed a coalition called the Jihad and Reform Front opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq, though they have continued attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunna, Islamic Army of Iraq, JAMI, Jihad and Reform Front, politics, the Fatiheen Army, the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance, the Islamic Movement of Hamas-Iraq, the Mujahideen Army
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Saudi embassy to open soon in Iraq
Region
(AP) -- Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Wednesday that the kingdom soon will open an embassy in Baghdad for the first time since Saddam Hussein's 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, a step the U.S. has pressed the Saudis to take. The announcement by Prince Saud al-Faisal came after a Riyadh delegation returned from Iraq, where al-Faisal said it had investigated the possibility of the embassy's opening.
"After we received the delegation's report, it is expected that an embassy will open soon," al-Faisal told reporters in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah. The United States has pushed the kingdom to open an embassy in Baghdad as a sign of support for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which Sunni Saudi Arabia has kept at arm's length and often criticizes as biased against Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
An umbrella insurgent group of Iraqi Sunni Muslims - Jihad and Reform Front - has warned Riyadh against the opening, saying in a recent Web posting that the move would only comfort the Shiite-dominated government.
Aside from political considerations, Arab countries have backed off attempts to open embassies in Baghdad ever since Egypt's top diplomat in the Iraq capital was kidnapped and killed by insurgents in 2005, soon after Cairo announced it was looking at reopening its mission there.
Two Algerian diplomats and five Russian Embassy officials were killed in the months that followed. Iraq's Sunni Arab minority has close ties - including tribal links - to Saudi Arabia, and the kingdom has been a powerful voice pressing for al-Maliki's government to take steps to reconcile with the Sunnis.
"After we received the delegation's report, it is expected that an embassy will open soon," al-Faisal told reporters in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah. The United States has pushed the kingdom to open an embassy in Baghdad as a sign of support for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which Sunni Saudi Arabia has kept at arm's length and often criticizes as biased against Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
An umbrella insurgent group of Iraqi Sunni Muslims - Jihad and Reform Front - has warned Riyadh against the opening, saying in a recent Web posting that the move would only comfort the Shiite-dominated government.
Aside from political considerations, Arab countries have backed off attempts to open embassies in Baghdad ever since Egypt's top diplomat in the Iraq capital was kidnapped and killed by insurgents in 2005, soon after Cairo announced it was looking at reopening its mission there.
Two Algerian diplomats and five Russian Embassy officials were killed in the months that followed. Iraq's Sunni Arab minority has close ties - including tribal links - to Saudi Arabia, and the kingdom has been a powerful voice pressing for al-Maliki's government to take steps to reconcile with the Sunnis.
Labels: embassy, Iraq, Jihad and Reform Front, Prince Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia
Monday, August 13, 2007
Saudi warned about opening embassy
Insurgency
(Gulf News) - A coalition of Iraqi Sunni Muslim insurgents on Monday warned Saudi Arabia against opening an embassy in Baghdad, saying the move would comfort the Shiite-dominated government. The Iraqi insurgent umbrella group, the Jihad and Reform Front said in a statement posted on its website, "At the time that the Iraqi people, particularly the Sunnis, look for the support of their brothers everywhere, Saudi Arabia comes out with a strange wish to support Al Maliki by opening an embassy in Baghdad."
The statement continued, "The Jihad and Reform Front warns against such a step and calls on the government and people of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia not to implement this wish, especially at this time when Al Maliki's government is in its worst and weakest situation."
Saudi Arabia has said it will send a delegation to Iraq this week to explore the possibility of opening an embassy for the first time since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The US has urged the Saudi to do so as a sign of support for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, which Sunni Saudi Arabia has kept at arm's length and often criticises as biased against Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
Saudi Arabia has said it will send a delegation to Iraq this week to explore the possibility of opening an embassy for the first time since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The US has urged the Saudi to do so as a sign of support for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, which Sunni Saudi Arabia has kept at arm's length and often criticises as biased against Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
The Front is a grouping of Iraqi insurgent groups, including the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Mujahideen Army and the 1920 Revolution Brigades. It was formed in part as a rival to a separate insurgent coalition led by Al Qaida in Iraq, which the Front's members accused of killing some of its fighters.
Labels: embassy, Iraq, Jihad and Reform Front, Saudi Arabia
Friday, July 20, 2007
Group splits from Islamic Army in Iraq which highlights importance of working with tribes
Insurgency, Tribal
(RFE/RL) - A group calling itself the Al-Furqan Army has announced its decision to split from the Islamic Army in Iraq, claiming that the Islamic Army has engaged in the political process through talks with the U.S. military, Al-Jazeera television reported on July 18. Islamic Army in Iraq spokesman Ibrahim al-Shammari told Al-Jazeera in an interview that the Al-Furqan Army is "a very small group," adding that the split came after the Al-Furqan Army adopted "policies that go against the Islamic Army's" stance.
Despite the apparent tensions, al-Shammari expressed disappointment over the split, saying: "We wish that the number of mujahedin increase, but not under pseudonyms. Separation is not the character of Islamic action." Al-Shammari also denied that the Islamic Army in Iraq engaged in any talks with the U.S. military. He said the army's position that the Iraqi people are free to choose whether or not to participate in the political process through the Iraqi Accordance Front is well-known. That position, he maintained, does not conflict with the group's determination to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The Islamic Army in Iraq's online bimonthly magazine, "Al-Fursan" (The Knights), noted in its July issue, posted on the Internet on July 17, that the Jihad and Reform Front will work to establish better relations with tribal leaders. The front was formed in May by brigades from the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Mujahedin Army, and the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army.
An unidentified editor wrote in the magazine that establishing better relations with the tribes is a "key priority" of the front, and should be handled carefully. The writer stressed the importance of the tribes in sheltering insurgents. He criticized the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq for harming relations between insurgents and tribes, saying the Islamic State's reckless behavior has prompted some tribes to begin working with U.S. and Iraqi forces to fight the insurgency.
Labels: Al-Furqan Army, Al-Fursan, Ansar al-Sunnah, Ibrahim al-Shammari, Iraqi Accordance Front, Islamic Army in Iraq, Jihad and Reform Front, Mujahideen Army, tribal leaders, U.S. military
