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| Target: Sheikh Ali al-Hatem (l.), a leader in the Awakening Movement, escaped a twin car bombing in Baghdad Monday that killed
22 people. Sam Dagher |
Rift threatens U.S. antidote to Al Qaeda in Iraq
Growing divisions among pro-US Sunni tribal chiefs threatens to unravel American gains against Al Qaeda.
from the February 13, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
Hatem was among the leaders of the executive body of the Anbar Salvation Council, which predates today's version of the movement, but that body was dissolved by Abdul-Sattar before his death.
Now, he claims, Iraqi Vice President Hashemi is attempting to undermine the movement by joining forces with Sheikh Ahmed. The vice president's real goal, he says, is to bolster his standing among Sunni Arabs and gaining a hand in lucrative Anbar contracts.
"We will not allow the rebellion of the tribes to be stolen and used by others to make them look good; we want the victory for the Iraqi people."
The US military would not comment on Hatem's charges, but said there is no one pot of money for Anbar. Funds come from the Iraqi government, development funds, and US military's Commanders Emergency Response Program.
As for the challenges besetting Sahwa and whether it would hurt the US mission, it said: "It will take more time and effort to build trust between the different stakeholders."
Web of competing interests
Saad al-Hadithi, a professor of political thought at Baghdad University, says Hatem is upset because he may not have benefited as much as he would have liked from reconstruction money. But, he says, his outbursts will undermine his credibility because "this is the style of militias and warlords."
Omar Abdul-Sattar, a senior IIP leader and member of the National Assembly from Anbar Province, laughs off the charges that his party is corrupt. "There are people that are trying to find an alternative to the Islamic Party but they will never succeed."
In fact, the position of Hashemi's Sunni bloc, of which the IIP has the largest share, has been greatly bolstered by its new allies among the Sahwa in its negotiations with the government.
"We have a common goal," says Mr. Abdul-Sattar.
As to when the Sunnis might return to the government, that could take months, he says. "Each side is betting it can hold out longer."
The Sunnis want a sweeping amnesty for prisoners and more representation in the security forces, among other demands.
Maliki's adviser, Sami al-Askari, says the prime minister will not agree to head a new government unless he's given more powers to choose his cabinet, and says current ministers were imposed on him by party bosses according to a sectarian formula.
Commenting on the political impasse, London-based Iraq analyst Ghassan Attiyah, who opposes the current political order, sums it up this way: "All the Americans did was buy the Iraqi government some time. The fact that fewer people are dying now does not change the reality that this is a dysfunctional state that can easily slip back into civil war."
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