Thursday, October 04, 2007
UIA condemns recruitment of Sunni tribesmen into Iraqi police force
Security, Tribal, Politics
(Washington Post) - The largest Shiite political coalition in Iraq demanded Tuesday that the U.S. military abandon its recruitment of Sunni tribesmen into the Iraqi police, saying some are members of "armed terrorist groups" and are engaged in killing, kidnapping and extortion under the guise of fighting the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The statement by the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is the most direct rebuke to a policy that U.S. military officers hold up as one of their most important achievements over the past year.
U.S. forces have given wide support to thousands of Sunni tribesmen across the country who have pledged to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. officials describe the effort as promoting grass-roots reconciliation that brings disenfranchised Sunnis into the government and provides protection for their neighborhoods. U.S. officials acknowledge that many of the recruits have been involved with various Sunni insurgent groups; expressions of antipathy toward the Iraqi security forces and government are common among them.
"We condemn and reject embracing those terrorist elements which committed the most hideous crimes against our people," the United Iraqi Alliance statement said. It also condemned "authorizing the groups to conduct security acts away from the jurisdiction of the government and without its knowledge." The statement went on: "We demand that the American administration stop this adventure, which is rejected by all the sons of the people and its national political powers."
The U.S. military credits the partnerships with local Sunnis, a concept developed in Anbar province and replicated in many Sunni areas in and around Baghdad, as a primary factor in the declining violence over the past several months. In Washington on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, described these partnerships as a "success story" and said 1,700 volunteers from the town of Abu Ghraib graduated last week after a month of police academy training. "Anbar now stands as an inspiring example to the rest of the country for what is possible, as citizens come together to reject extremist behavior," Odierno said.
But some Iraqi and U.S. officials have long expressed reservations about whether the experience in Anbar province, which is largely Sunni, could be repeated in areas with mixed populations, such as Baghdad. "Now the problem is that the American Army has started to arm some Sunni groups . . . and give them salaries, and they've enabled them to control some mixed areas," Humam Hamoudi, a senior Shiite leader in the coalition, said in a recent interview. "This has provoked astonishment, rejection and rage."
Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, said there are insufficient U.S. and Iraqi troops to defeat the extremists, so the local tribes provide an important supplement. He said the recruits should be accountable to the Iraqi security forces. "At this particular moment, we need these tribes. It might be for a short period," he said in an interview. "I can't understand the fears. Frankly, it's people talking nonsense, that these tribes might turn into militiamen the next day and be a threat to the Shias and attack whomever."
The statement by the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is the most direct rebuke to a policy that U.S. military officers hold up as one of their most important achievements over the past year.
U.S. forces have given wide support to thousands of Sunni tribesmen across the country who have pledged to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. officials describe the effort as promoting grass-roots reconciliation that brings disenfranchised Sunnis into the government and provides protection for their neighborhoods. U.S. officials acknowledge that many of the recruits have been involved with various Sunni insurgent groups; expressions of antipathy toward the Iraqi security forces and government are common among them.
"We condemn and reject embracing those terrorist elements which committed the most hideous crimes against our people," the United Iraqi Alliance statement said. It also condemned "authorizing the groups to conduct security acts away from the jurisdiction of the government and without its knowledge." The statement went on: "We demand that the American administration stop this adventure, which is rejected by all the sons of the people and its national political powers."
The U.S. military credits the partnerships with local Sunnis, a concept developed in Anbar province and replicated in many Sunni areas in and around Baghdad, as a primary factor in the declining violence over the past several months. In Washington on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, described these partnerships as a "success story" and said 1,700 volunteers from the town of Abu Ghraib graduated last week after a month of police academy training. "Anbar now stands as an inspiring example to the rest of the country for what is possible, as citizens come together to reject extremist behavior," Odierno said.
But some Iraqi and U.S. officials have long expressed reservations about whether the experience in Anbar province, which is largely Sunni, could be repeated in areas with mixed populations, such as Baghdad. "Now the problem is that the American Army has started to arm some Sunni groups . . . and give them salaries, and they've enabled them to control some mixed areas," Humam Hamoudi, a senior Shiite leader in the coalition, said in a recent interview. "This has provoked astonishment, rejection and rage."
Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, said there are insufficient U.S. and Iraqi troops to defeat the extremists, so the local tribes provide an important supplement. He said the recruits should be accountable to the Iraqi security forces. "At this particular moment, we need these tribes. It might be for a short period," he said in an interview. "I can't understand the fears. Frankly, it's people talking nonsense, that these tribes might turn into militiamen the next day and be a threat to the Shias and attack whomever."
Labels: Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Sunni tribesmen, Tariq al-Hashimi, UIA
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Tribesmen attacked by suicide bomber
Security
(AFP) - At least 16 Iraqi army recruits were killed Saturday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at their recruitment centre west of Baghdad one day after police found the murdered bodies of seven anti-terrorism officers. Another 21 recruits were wounded in the blast, which took place at an army base in the predominantly Sunni rural tribal area around Abu Ghraib, said a defense ministry official.
Sunni tribesmen that once fought with the insurgency have been increasingly joining the security services at the urging of their elders to restore stability to their strife-ridden lands. Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf told reporters Saturday that thanks to the efforts of the tribes, specifically in the western Al-Anbar province, security forces are now on the offensive.
"For the first time in four years the government is giving an offer to the armed groups to lay down their weapons and give themselves up to the government," he said. "Those that have not shed Iraqi blood will be given a general amnesty. We intend to raise the people of the province in the army and police to 21,000 fighters to ensure security there," he said, adding that at the end of 2006, there were 9,000.
Tribes in Iraq's western province of Al-Anbar have banded together and are working with US and Iraqi forces to combat Al-Qaeda and sending people to join the security services to restore stability and hasten the departure of US troops. The fiercely independent Sunni tribesmen also see the advantage of not being patrolled by security forces largely made up of Shiites from elsewhere in the country. Attempts are being made by the US military and Iraqi government to build such tribal alliances elsewhere in the country where the predominantly Sunni insurgency is raging with limited success.
Insurgents, particularly those linked with Al-Qaeda, have struck back hard against the tribes looking to ally with the government. The seven plain clothes police found murdered north of Baghdad in the oil refining town of Baiji on Friday were tribal recruits to Anbar province's special anti-terrorism police unit, a police intelligence captain told AFP on condition of anonymity. The bodies of the policemen, which were riddled with bullets, had been dumped on the roadside.
Sunni tribesmen that once fought with the insurgency have been increasingly joining the security services at the urging of their elders to restore stability to their strife-ridden lands. Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf told reporters Saturday that thanks to the efforts of the tribes, specifically in the western Al-Anbar province, security forces are now on the offensive.
"For the first time in four years the government is giving an offer to the armed groups to lay down their weapons and give themselves up to the government," he said. "Those that have not shed Iraqi blood will be given a general amnesty. We intend to raise the people of the province in the army and police to 21,000 fighters to ensure security there," he said, adding that at the end of 2006, there were 9,000.
Tribes in Iraq's western province of Al-Anbar have banded together and are working with US and Iraqi forces to combat Al-Qaeda and sending people to join the security services to restore stability and hasten the departure of US troops. The fiercely independent Sunni tribesmen also see the advantage of not being patrolled by security forces largely made up of Shiites from elsewhere in the country. Attempts are being made by the US military and Iraqi government to build such tribal alliances elsewhere in the country where the predominantly Sunni insurgency is raging with limited success.
Insurgents, particularly those linked with Al-Qaeda, have struck back hard against the tribes looking to ally with the government. The seven plain clothes police found murdered north of Baghdad in the oil refining town of Baiji on Friday were tribal recruits to Anbar province's special anti-terrorism police unit, a police intelligence captain told AFP on condition of anonymity. The bodies of the policemen, which were riddled with bullets, had been dumped on the roadside.
Labels: Abu Ghraib, army recruits, Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf, suicide bomber, Sunni tribesmen
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Confusion over al-Masri's fate
Insurgency, Tribal
(Al Jazeera) - An al-Qaeda-linked group has denied that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the purported leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, has been killed. Amid confusion within the government about whether al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, had been killed, the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq said in an internet statement on Tuesday that he was alive and safe.
Iraq's government had said that al-Masri had been killed either by rivals in al-Qaeda or by Sunni tribesmen. Later, however, Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the interior ministry, said al-Masri's death had not been confirmed. Another senior official, Major-General Hussein Kamal, said the government was "trying to investigate and confirm the report" that al-Masri had been killed in a battle within his own group. The internet statement by the Islamic State in Iraq "assures the Islamic nation about the safety of Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, may God save him, and that he is still fighting the enemies".
Late on Tuesday, the leader of a Sunni Arab group opposed to al-Qaeda told Iraqi television that his fighters tracked down and killed al-Masri along with seven of his aides, two of them Saudis. "Eyewitnesses confirmed his death and their corpses are still at the scene," Abdul-Sattar al-Rishawi, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, said. Another member of the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Iraqi tribes that are opposed to al-Qaeda's presence in the Iraqi insurgency, told the AFP news agency that al-Masri had been killed by members of the al-Dulaimi tribe.
"The clashes started between the Dulaimi tribe, which is part of the Salvation Council, and Al-Qaeda at 9am (05:00 GMT) and continued until 11," Sheikh Hamid al-Hayis, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, said. "They killed him along with two Saudi leaders and three Iraqis." Iraq's interior ministry said on Tuesday it had received intelligence information on al-Masri's apparent death, and that Iraqi security forces were not involved.
Iraq's government had said that al-Masri had been killed either by rivals in al-Qaeda or by Sunni tribesmen. Later, however, Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the interior ministry, said al-Masri's death had not been confirmed. Another senior official, Major-General Hussein Kamal, said the government was "trying to investigate and confirm the report" that al-Masri had been killed in a battle within his own group. The internet statement by the Islamic State in Iraq "assures the Islamic nation about the safety of Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, may God save him, and that he is still fighting the enemies".
Late on Tuesday, the leader of a Sunni Arab group opposed to al-Qaeda told Iraqi television that his fighters tracked down and killed al-Masri along with seven of his aides, two of them Saudis. "Eyewitnesses confirmed his death and their corpses are still at the scene," Abdul-Sattar al-Rishawi, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, said. Another member of the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Iraqi tribes that are opposed to al-Qaeda's presence in the Iraqi insurgency, told the AFP news agency that al-Masri had been killed by members of the al-Dulaimi tribe.
"The clashes started between the Dulaimi tribe, which is part of the Salvation Council, and Al-Qaeda at 9am (05:00 GMT) and continued until 11," Sheikh Hamid al-Hayis, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, said. "They killed him along with two Saudi leaders and three Iraqis." Iraq's interior ministry said on Tuesday it had received intelligence information on al-Masri's apparent death, and that Iraqi security forces were not involved.
"Some information ... needs confirmation, but this information is very strong," said Brigadier-General Abdel Karim Khalaf, interior ministry operations director. "The clashes took place among themselves. There were clashes within the groups of al-Qaeda. He was liquidated by them." Khalaf said that al-Masri was apparently killed in a battle near a bridge in the town of al-Nibayi, north of Baghdad. He said that Iraqi authorities did not have al-Masri's body.
A US military spokesman could not confirm the report, and said that several previous reports of al-Masri's death were found to be false. "I hope it's true, we're checking, but we're going to be doubly sure before we can confirm anything," Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Garver said. In March, Iraqi media reported that al-Masri had been wounded in a shootout with Iraqi soldiers, but the information proved unfounded.
US officials have said al-Masri is an Egyptian who specialises in car bombings. He has allegedly headed al-Qaeda's operations in Iraq since the death of then-leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a US air-raid in June 2006.
A US military spokesman could not confirm the report, and said that several previous reports of al-Masri's death were found to be false. "I hope it's true, we're checking, but we're going to be doubly sure before we can confirm anything," Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Garver said. In March, Iraqi media reported that al-Masri had been wounded in a shootout with Iraqi soldiers, but the information proved unfounded.
US officials have said al-Masri is an Egyptian who specialises in car bombings. He has allegedly headed al-Qaeda's operations in Iraq since the death of then-leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a US air-raid in June 2006.
Labels: Abdul-Sattar al-Rishawi, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Al Qaeda in Iraq, al-Dulaimi tribe, al-Nibayi, Anbar Salvation Council, Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, Islamic State in Iraq, Sunni tribesmen
