Thanks for the link, WW!
Sunnis fight back against insurgents
IWPR ^ | December 4 2006
Posted on 12/04/2006 9:31:28 AM CST by jmc1969
Sunni leaders in lawless western Iraq have formed a kind of citizen’s militia to combat sustained attacks by insurgent groups linked to al-Qaida.
Dubbed the Anbar Salvation Council, the group seeks to gather diverse tribal groups, political leaders and members of the police and other security forces.
By representing Sunnis who oppose al-Qaida groups leading the violent campaign in the province, the Salvation Council marks an important counter to the increasing sectarian divide within the country.
Already claiming some success in attacking al-Qaida-inspired forces, the Salvation Council is being seized on by the Iraqi and US governments as a possible means to restore some kind of order in the province.
The main objective of the Salvation Council is to oppose al-Qaida and put an end to their power in the west of Iraq. Representatives say that it was formed in October under the supervision of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“We got full support from the government to terminate Takfiri groups [radical anti-government Islamists] all over the province,” claimed Fassal al-Gawod, a member of the Salvation Council who was formerly head of a provincial council in Anbar.
The Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) is one of the key groups that broke the Sunni political boycott, supported the October 2005 constitutional referendum and decided to participate in the December 2005 parliamentary elections. Now it forms part of the Accord Front, the Sunni parliamentary bloc, and holds senior posts in the parliament and the government.
As a result, it has also become a prime target for al-Qaida, particularly in Anbar province. “Al-Qaida's agenda is against Sunni participation in any political process," said Abdul-Karim Mohammed, a senior IIP official. “The IIP is the first renegade and we will clean up Anbar of their Islam renegade ideology.”
More at the FR thread here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1748175/posts