Iraqi Spiritual Leaders Form Committee
By JASON KEYSER
The Associated Press
Monday, December 29, 2003; 2:28 PM
washingtonpost.com
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TIKRIT, Iraq - Influential spiritual leaders from Saddam Hussein's hometown - a bastion of anti-American sentiment - are joining forces to persuade Iraqis to abandon the violent insurgency, one of the leaders said Monday.
The effort marks a new, open willingness to cooperate with U.S. forces - a shift in the thinking of at least some key members of Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority, which lost political dominance with the fall of Saddam and has largely formed the most outspoken and violent opposition to the U.S.-led occupation.
Sheik Sabah Mahmoud, leader of the Sada tribe, said he and 10 other tribal elders have formed a reconciliation committee in Tikrit to speak to other Iraqi leaders about trying to persuade rebels to put down weapons. He said he took that message last week to a group of scholars, religious leaders and other prominent figures meeting in Baghdad.
"It's about time we put our differences aside and looked to the future," Mahmoud said. "I told them, 'The reality is they (American forces) are here on the ground; the past is dead. Give the Americans a chance to see what they are going to give us.'"
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The committee was formalized Saturday, he said.
"It's just the beginning," the sheik said during a meeting in the provincial government building with a U.S. Army commander and seven other spiritual leaders.
The committee is one of the fruits of a forum that has been meeting since the summer. <font size=4>Such gatherings offer a glimpse into deepening ties between U.S. commanders and Sunni leaders in a rebel stronghold, even as attacks against coalition forces and those who cooperate with them continue.
Initially, the Sunnis participating in those sessions did not advocate cooperating with American forces. The early meetings were mainly gripe sessions - their only outlet for complaining to U.S. commanders about arrests, raids, night curfews and so forth.
Sunnis ruled Iraq for centuries and dominated the country under Saddam's regime, filling high-ranking positions and reaping economic benefits. But they make up only 20 percent of Iraq's 25 million people, concentrated in Baghdad and villages to the north and west.
With the U.S.-led occupation trying to install democratic government, the Shiite Muslim majority - long oppressed under Saddam - is positioning itself to hold sway in Iraq. Sunnis apparently are realizing they must cooperate with the occupation if they are to have a role in the country's future leadership.
Lt. Col. Steve Russell, who heads the meetings on the American side, welcomed the idea of a formal effort at reconciliation. "It's some good news," he said. The elders responded, "Inshallah," Arabic for "God willing."
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Russell also credits tribal leaders with help in recruiting some of the men that American forces are training for the new Iraqi army. The sheiks have also helped disperse crowds of angry protesters, he said.
Russell, of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said <font size=4>his superiors from Central Command were surprised by reports he brought back of stronger ties with the Sunni sheiks, whom he greets with a few words of Arabic and the traditional custom of a kiss on the cheek.
"They were somewhat surprised that we had had such an established dialogue, because everyone imagines that Tikrit is such an evil place that nothing will ever happen here," he told the sheiks, drawing laughter.
Russell now wants the Sunni leaders to help spread a message of cooperation - and the tribal leaders seek some U.S. concessions in return.
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U.S. forces operating in the area of Tikrit and the cities of Kirkuk and Baqouba still detain 248 Iraqis suspected of involvement in attacks on coalition troops. Their release tops a list of demands from the sheiks who now find themselves fighting to save their credibility with their own people.
"Everybody knows we are meeting with the Americans, and they ask what we did and if we talked about prisoners," said Sheik Mahmoud al-Nada, leader of the powerful Nassari tribe from the village of Uja, Saddam's birthplace, just outside Tikrit. "Right now our credibility and honor are on the line."
Russell said he was able to release three detainees last week based on information the elders provided him. He promised to check into other cases. But Russell told them bluntly that some would have to stay in custody.
To prove his case, Russell showed the elders photos of weapons seized from one detainee's house - grenades, assault rifles and ammunition, some of them hidden under a baby's bed.
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Also joining the meeting was Brig. Gen. Abdullah al-Jabouri, the Iraqi provincial chief of military affairs, who said active and visible U.S. involvement in improving in the lives of residents will help bring an end to the violent resistance.
"Then people will see that these are not occupation forces. They'll change their view," he said.
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© 2003 The Associated Press |
