Fratricide in Iraq‘s Anbar may escalate

AP ^ | February 25 2007

[jmc1969]

The killers started early. Just after sunrise, they tracked the imam to his modest brick mosque, where he was praying on a green carpet. Three masked gunmen muscled past a handful of worshippers and pumped four bullets into the chest of Sheik al-Karbouli.

It‘s a fratricide that may be escalating.

The showdowns in Anbar demonstrate how the battle for Iraq can reach into every home and mosque. Political and religious leaders are being pushed to choose between the insurgency or the U.S.-backed government.

"The first step, before we talk about reconciliation, is to bring the outlaw places under control," said Gen. Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi military.

As insurgents clash with government forces, Anbar‘s clan leaders are caught between them.

Members of his tribe had publicly denounced the insurgents. Al-Karbouli often used his Friday sermons at the Ameen mosque in Karabilah to warn worshippers against joining the "terrorists," said residents of the town, located about 240 miles west of Baghdad.

The 45-year-old al-Karbouli spoke out in other prominent forums. As a member of the municipal council, he tried to rally young men to join the police or military. As a lawyer, he mocked the declarations by al-Qaida in Iraq to establish an Islamic state.

Resident of Karabilah say his opposition to the insurgents cost him his life. "The only reason for this brutal act was his stance against al-Qaida," said one resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals.

"We give al-Qaida and their supporters these choices: either surrender, kill themselves or we kill them," said Col. al-Assal, the deputy interior minister in Anbar and the Salvation Council‘s top security adviser.

The council, he said, uses a network of informants to hunt for insurgent backers and weapons stashes.

"Al-Qaida is dying in Anbar," he claimed.