Sheikh’s assassination a “tragic loss”: US
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said the assassination on Thursday of a leading Sunni sheikh in al-Anbar province was a “tragic loss” but expressed hope the movement he led against Al Qaeda will survive him.
Sheikh Sattar Abu Reesha was killed by a roadside bomb that struck his convoy in the provincial capital of Ramadi at the start of Ramadan, police said.
“Despite the tragic loss of Sheikh Sattar, he has ignited a movement that will outlive him,” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
The sheikh was among a group of tribal sheikhs who met with President George W. Bush last week during his surprise visit to Al-Anbar last week.
Morrell said the sheikh was a “driving force” in the so-called Anbar Awakening, the name given to a shift by tribal leaders against Al Qaeda and in favour of US forces.
“He clearly spearhead the movement and it is a tragic loss,” he said.
Three bodyguards were killed in the attack, Pentagon officials said.
The sheikh initially was protected by US forces who parked an M-1 tank in front of his house and trained his bodyguards and security forces. But Morrell said responsibility for his security had passed to his own people.
This reminds me of the assascination of the Northern Alliance leader 2 days before 9/11
Thanks Velveeta.
A special emailer sent this in - QUOTE::
The details:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070913/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
A Ramadi police officer said Abu Risha had received a group of poor people at his home earlier in the day, to mark the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, said authorities believed the bomb was planted by one of the visitors.
So in other words, he was killed for his own generosity! At the beginning of Ramadan it is customary for a sheikh to dispense zakat (charity) to the poor, though a lot of them don’t actually do it. Sattar always did because the poor were the ones who helped to protect him from al-Qaeda during his time on the run. From the looks of it, al-Qaeda took advantage of that fact and killed him.
On 9/13/07... wrote:
The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.
—Soren Kierkegaard