Sheikh's death threatens US success in Anbar Province

Sheikh Abu Risha, who rallied Sunni tribesmen against Al Qaeda, was killed by a roadside bomb on Thursday.

from the September 14, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

There has been a lot of tension recently between Abu Risha, who had founded the so-called Anbar Awakening of tribes against Al Qaeda in October, and Sheikh Hamid al-Hayes, who had presided over the subsequently formed Anbar Salvation Council.

Abu Risha rebuked Sheikh Hayes on national television for suggesting that tribesmen were ready to fill the ministerial posts. The positions had been vacated by the main Sunni political block when it withdrew from the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in August.

"Yes there was tension and rivalry between them but I do not think it would reach the point of assassination," says Sheikh Rafie al-Fahdawi, whose tribe joined the Awakening in April.

Despite talk from many circles in Anbar and elsewhere that he came from a family of highway robbers, Abu Risha with his fine tribal robes, goatee, and a pistol tucked in a hip holster had charisma and swagger that appealed to both the US military and many Anbaris and other Iraqis.

Popular poet Rahim al-Maliki, a Shiite who was killed along with other tribal leaders in a bomb attack in Baghdad hotel in June, had traveled to Anbar earlier this year to praise Abu Risha.

Abdul-Hameed al-Hardan, a lawyer who hails from one of the most prominent clans of the Al-Dulaim tribal confederation, said Abu Risha's family history did not matter as much as his ability to act as a catalyst in bringing the tribes together. He also lauded Abu Risha's ability to reach out to the politicians in recent months, including the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, the Iraqi Accordance Front.

"This is a blow because Sheikh Abdul-Sattar was smart to reach out to the politicians and start working on formulating demands for Sunnis on a national level and not just in Anbar," says Mr. Hardan, who had previously supported the insurgency and violent resistance to US forces.

In April, The Christian Science Monitor spent a whole day with Abu Risha in the village of Hamdhiyah on the outskirts of Ramadi and witnessed firsthand his influence on tribes in making them renounce their allegiance to Al Qaeda.

At that meeting the Bu-Fahed tribe, which had been among the most active supporters of Al Qaeda, threw its support behind Abu Risha.

"Let them commit suicide, we chose a dignified life and they chose shame and dishonor and they are finished," he told the dozens of Bu-Fahed tribesmen gathered that day.

"We are freedom fighters, we have dedicated ourselves to the province and we are one tribe and one hand. We will not waver from our goals."

1 | Page 2