Posted on 12/12/2005 11:10:10 PM PST by FairOpinion
BAGHDAD, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Secular Iraqi insurgents warned al Qaeda and other militant groups on Monday not to mount attacks to disrupt this week's parliamentary election after the militants said anyone who voted would be an "apostate".
The position contrasted sharply with the bloody run-up to January polls, when Sunni Arab nationalist insurgents issued their own threats of violence against voters.
Sunni Arabs largely boycotted that election for an interim assembly and were thus significantly under-represented.
Abu Mohammed, a Saddam Hussein loyalist, said threats from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, and other groups, would not keep Iraqis away from the ballot box.
"We decided to boost the political process so that our people will have true representatives in the National Assembly," he told Reuters by telephone from Baghdad.
"Zarqawi is not a threat to us. We are more powerful and have a national goal to defend."
Zarqawi's followers have carried out suicide bombings, often aimed at Shi'ites, killing thousands of Iraqi civilians and security personnel and raising fears of sectarian civil war.
FEAR OF SUICIDE BOMBINGS
Al Qaeda in Iraq and other militant groups branded the landmark election as ungodly and vowed to keep up their jihad to turn the country into an Islamic state, according to an Internet statement dated Monday.
The statement was posted on an Islamist Web site often used by militants and signed by Zarqawi's al Qaeda and four other Sunni Arab groups including the Army of the Victorious Sect and the Brigades of Islamic Jihad.
"This so-called political process -- and those who take part in these apostate elections -- is forbidden by God's laws and goes against our Muslim constitution, the Koran," it said.
Abu Abdullah, an insurgent from the western town of Ramadi, said Zarqawi's al Qaeda militants would be asking for trouble if they attacked polling stations, as happened in January.
"We will defeat them if they dare to attack the polling centres and frankly speaking, in case they resort to attacking us or polling centers, we will react strongly," he said.
Zarqawi has followers who enter Iraq from across the Arab world to blow themselves up. He also has Iraqi supporters.
"What is going on in Iraq these days is a crusader conspiracy and this political process is nothing but a devilish project aimed against the mujahideen," the statement by Zarqawi's group and its allies said.
"We declare that we will carry on our jihad in the name of God until an Islamic state ruled by the Koran is established."
While Zarqawi and his ilk completely reject Iraq's U.S.-sponsored political process, Baathists in the Sunni Arab insurgency appear to want to use the elections to gain political clout, without showing any sign of willingness to disarm.
Iraqis vote on Thursday for their first full-term parliament since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam in 2003. Violence has marred the run-up to the polls, with a spate of suicide bombings and abductions of at least eight foreigners in recent weeks.
Iraqi officials have said Zarqawi's al Qaeda is a major worry for security forces, which are also bracing for an increase in violence in the weeks after the election.
After January's vote for an interim government, there was a dramatic surge in attacks, many claimed by al Qaeda.
"We will work on reducing the possibilities of such attacks, Iraq should have a way out of this mess," said Abu Ali, another nationalist insurgent speaking by telephone from Ramadi.
The Iraqi faction that makes up part of the insurgency decided to join the political process, they turned against the terrorists themselves.
We have a major victory here. And of course, President Bush, Rumsfeld and our fine troops, should, but won't get the credit.
The FACT that suicide bombings in November were at a 7-month low also didn't get much mension in the MSM.
I really think the Saddamist faction finally realizes that their days are GONE and not coming back, and they can either join the democratic process or be left out in the cold, running around blowing themselves up.
They decided that joining the political process made more sense.
They tried to wear down the US, with the help of our MSM and the Dems, trying to get us to turn tail and run, and they finally figured out that Bush is NOT going to do that, so they are basically giving up their violence.
Of course this won't happen overnight, but the fact that they actually came out and warned Al Qaeda to not interfere with the election is really major, which of course the MSM is downplaying.
"We decided to boost the political process so that our people will have true representatives in the National Assembly," he told Reuters by telephone from Baghdad.
"Zarqawi is not a threat to us. We are more powerful and have a national goal to defend."
Y'know, if this guy considers Zarqawi a rival, there's a really easy way to get rid of him, as long as he knows where Zarqawi can be found...
I think Zarqawi's days are numbered. His former allies will give him up and collect the reward.
This is serious; he flat-out threatened Zarqawi's crew. That's a point of no return if I ever saw one.
I doubt it, but it's a step in the right direction. They are finally learning that their are even more screwed and isolated if they don't participate.
It's really got to irk MSM and the left in general. This isn't how things are supposed to go!
By engaging in the political process, they are acknowleding that Saddam is not coming back.
By threatening Zarqawi, they will isolate him.
We've got a two-fer!
Red-on-Red ping
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