Leader: Iraqi tribes fight insurgency
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Sep 18, 11:00 AM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Tribes in one of Iraq's most volatile provinces have joined together to fight the insurgency there, and they have called on the government and the U.S.-led military coalition for weapons, a prominent tribal leader said Monday.
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Tribal leaders and clerics in Ramadi, the capital of violent Anbar province, met last week and have set up a force of about 20,000 men "ready to purge the city of these infidels," Sheik Fassal al-Guood, a prominent tribal leader from Ramadi, told The Associated Press, referring to the insurgents.
"People are fed up with the acts of those criminals who take Islam as a cover for their crimes," he said. "The situation in the province is unbearable, the city is abandoned, most of the families have fled the city and all services are poor."
Al-Guood said 15 of the 18 tribes in Ramadi "have sworn to fight those who are killing Sunnis and Shiites and they established an armed force of about 20,000 young men ready to purge the city from those infidels."
He said they had asked the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition "to back them with modern weapons and cars because the terrorists have weapons more modern than their rifles."
The tribal leaders met last week and "agreed to form the Anbar Salvation Council to fight the terrorists who call themselves Mujahedeen fighting to liberate Iraq," he said.
Tribes wield considerable influence in Iraqi society, especially among rural people for whom bonds of the clan are vital. But like all other institutions in Iraq, tribal affiliations sometimes can also be tenuous.
It is not the first time that tribal leaders have said they will help fight insurgents, mostly foreign fighters who have infiltrated Anbar from neighboring Syria.
Earlier this year, relations between locals and foreign fighters started to sour when the foreigners started killing Iraqis suspected of having links to the Americans or even those holding government jobs.
The rift became an outright split with a wave of assassinations and bombings that killed scores of Anbar residents and were blamed on al-Qaida. A suicide bombing on Jan. 5 in a line of police recruits in Ramadi killed at least 58 people, including U.S. troops.
In late May, a prominent Sunni Arab tribal leader, Sheik Osama al-Jadaan, who provided fighters to help battle al-Qaida in Anbar was assassinated in Baghdad.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabagh said Anbar tribes had asked the government for support in combatting terrorism in the region.
"Anbar has been abducted by terrorist groups," al-Dabagh said. "Anbar tribes called on the government to support them because they are fighting the terrorists and they assisting Iraqi forces in the war against terrorism."
Anbar, a vast province of mostly desert, stretches west of Baghdad to the borders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. The area is an insurgent stronghold and Ramadi has become one of the most violent cities in Iraq.
"Obviously the situation down in al-Anbar is very complex. And it is a multi-pronged approach that is being dealt with down there," said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, adding that the development of the Iraqi police force in the area was crucial.
He said tribal leaders "very much want to see security brought back to that area."
But he admitted it would take time to bring stability to the region.
"It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take a longer period of time, but as we watch and see what the Iraqi police and Iraqi security forces do, we're very optimistic about the future of the province," Caldwell said. "But it will not occur in the next two or three months, it will be a much longer time period."
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said that during the past week, Iraqi security forces had met with tribal leaders and had agreed to cooperate in combating violence.
"There are some commands took the initiative that aims to enhance the cooperation between the Iraqi army and the Iraqi tribes," he said, adding that the commander of the 7th Iraqi Army Division in Ramadi met with seven tribal leaders and agreed to work together.
In August, hundreds of Iraq's tribal chiefs held a conference in Baghdad and signed a "pact of honor" pledging to support Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national reconciliation plan.
Although that pact is unlikely to bring peace to Iraq, it was an important step toward winning support in this divided nation for al-Maliki's 24-point reconciliation plan that was unveiled in June.
Al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated unity government is struggling to control the sectarian violence and a Sunni Arab insurgency that have together claimed about 10,000 lives since it took office in May.
____
Associated Press writer Qais al-Bashir and Elena Becatoros contributed to this report from Baghdad.
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Sep 18, 11:00 AM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Tribes in one of Iraq's most volatile provinces have joined together to fight the insurgency there, and they have called on the government and the U.S.-led military coalition for weapons, a prominent tribal leader said Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Tribal leaders and clerics in Ramadi, the capital of violent Anbar province, met last week and have set up a force of about 20,000 men "ready to purge the city of these infidels," Sheik Fassal al-Guood, a prominent tribal leader from Ramadi, told The Associated Press, referring to the insurgents.
"People are fed up with the acts of those criminals who take Islam as a cover for their crimes," he said. "The situation in the province is unbearable, the city is abandoned, most of the families have fled the city and all services are poor."
Al-Guood said 15 of the 18 tribes in Ramadi "have sworn to fight those who are killing Sunnis and Shiites and they established an armed force of about 20,000 young men ready to purge the city from those infidels."
He said they had asked the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition "to back them with modern weapons and cars because the terrorists have weapons more modern than their rifles."
The tribal leaders met last week and "agreed to form the Anbar Salvation Council to fight the terrorists who call themselves Mujahedeen fighting to liberate Iraq," he said.
Tribes wield considerable influence in Iraqi society, especially among rural people for whom bonds of the clan are vital. But like all other institutions in Iraq, tribal affiliations sometimes can also be tenuous.
It is not the first time that tribal leaders have said they will help fight insurgents, mostly foreign fighters who have infiltrated Anbar from neighboring Syria.
Earlier this year, relations between locals and foreign fighters started to sour when the foreigners started killing Iraqis suspected of having links to the Americans or even those holding government jobs.
The rift became an outright split with a wave of assassinations and bombings that killed scores of Anbar residents and were blamed on al-Qaida. A suicide bombing on Jan. 5 in a line of police recruits in Ramadi killed at least 58 people, including U.S. troops.
In late May, a prominent Sunni Arab tribal leader, Sheik Osama al-Jadaan, who provided fighters to help battle al-Qaida in Anbar was assassinated in Baghdad.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabagh said Anbar tribes had asked the government for support in combatting terrorism in the region.
"Anbar has been abducted by terrorist groups," al-Dabagh said. "Anbar tribes called on the government to support them because they are fighting the terrorists and they assisting Iraqi forces in the war against terrorism."
Anbar, a vast province of mostly desert, stretches west of Baghdad to the borders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. The area is an insurgent stronghold and Ramadi has become one of the most violent cities in Iraq.
"Obviously the situation down in al-Anbar is very complex. And it is a multi-pronged approach that is being dealt with down there," said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, adding that the development of the Iraqi police force in the area was crucial.
He said tribal leaders "very much want to see security brought back to that area."
But he admitted it would take time to bring stability to the region.
"It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take a longer period of time, but as we watch and see what the Iraqi police and Iraqi security forces do, we're very optimistic about the future of the province," Caldwell said. "But it will not occur in the next two or three months, it will be a much longer time period."
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said that during the past week, Iraqi security forces had met with tribal leaders and had agreed to cooperate in combating violence.
"There are some commands took the initiative that aims to enhance the cooperation between the Iraqi army and the Iraqi tribes," he said, adding that the commander of the 7th Iraqi Army Division in Ramadi met with seven tribal leaders and agreed to work together.
In August, hundreds of Iraq's tribal chiefs held a conference in Baghdad and signed a "pact of honor" pledging to support Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national reconciliation plan.
Although that pact is unlikely to bring peace to Iraq, it was an important step toward winning support in this divided nation for al-Maliki's 24-point reconciliation plan that was unveiled in June.
Al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated unity government is struggling to control the sectarian violence and a Sunni Arab insurgency that have together claimed about 10,000 lives since it took office in May.
____
Associated Press writer Qais al-Bashir and Elena Becatoros contributed to this report from Baghdad.
