Sunni insurgents criticize al-Qaida in Iraq
ISN SECURITY WATCH (13/01/06) - Al-Qaida fighters and Iraqi insurgents are battling and exchanging heated words about how al-Qaida executes deadly attacks that claim innocent lives, according to interviews with insurgent fighters.
Some Sunni insurgent groups, such as the Islamic Army, have reportedly become dissatisfied with the Iraqi branch of al-Qaida led by the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the New York Times reported.
At the same time, other Sunni militant groups, have allied themselves with al-Qaida and support their version of jihad, even if it means killing innocent Iraqis along the way.
“Some elements of Sunni insurgents have declared war on al-Qaida in Iraq while others have joined up,” Khaled al-Rodhan, a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, told ISN Security Watch.
An Islamic Army fighter who goes by the name Abu Lil told the Times that in a heated battle on 23 October, al-Qaida fighters killed two insurgents in a fight in the outskirts of Taji, a city just north of Baghdad.
The fighting occurred just days after representatives from both sides met in the town. “Al-Qaida killed two people from our group," affirmed Lil, adding that the world’s most notorious terror organization, “repeatedly kill our people [Sunni insurgents]”.
While some speculate just how deep the alleged divide is between Iraq’s al-Qaida and the insurgency, others like al-Rodhan “think it’s very real”.
Hoping to capitalize on the rift between their common enemies, US and Iraqi officials have reportedly been trying initiate contact with some Sunni insurgents hoping to convert them into allies against Zarqawi’s faction of al-Qaida.
Though Iraq’s insurgent groups have expressed different desires for how they would like to see Iraq governed in years to come - fiercely debating the merits of a secular versus a religious state - they all agree on the necessity to drive US and coalition forces out of Iraq as soon as possible.
However, the ongoing fighting and increasing Iraqi body count has spawned a growing resentment of the insurgency among some Sunnis who are more inclined to participate in the political process after missing out on last year’s January elections for a transitional government. The Sunnis boycotted the balloting.
In December’s elections, Sunnis headed to the polls en masse, ensuring themselves a stake in the new parliament, albeit a small one compared to the majority Shi’ites and Kurds.
Meanwhile, the continuing war in Iraq and the activities of al-Zarqawi in it appears to have formed a schism between Iraq’s al-Qaida and the international umbrella of the group led by terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, al-Rodhan surmised.
“The disagreement between Iraqi al-Qaida and Osama-led al-Qaida is very real,” al-Rodhan said.
“The non-Zarqawi al-Qaida has a political agenda (outside of Iraq),” he added in reference bin Laden’s desire to see an end to the US occupation of Afghanistan and presence of US and coalition forces in Middle Eastern countries.
Following the Jordanian bombing last year, for which al-Zarqawi took credit, an al-Qaida web site posted a message saying how the blast would hurt al-Qaida’s cause, noting the unnecessary deaths of civilians and collateral damage.
“Zarqawi’s only agenda is violence at this point … we haven’t seen what his goal after the fighting would be. Right now his goal seems to be just kill, kill, kill,” al-Rodhan said.
In other Iraq news, US military leaders in Baghdad predicted on Thursday that violence would increase in the coming weeks as Iraq began forming a government. Since the 15 December elections, some 500 people have been killed. During the same period, 54 US soldiers were also killed, noted US Brigadier General Donald Alston, spokesman for the coalition forces in Iraq.
“As democracy advances in the form of election results and government formation, and as the military pressure continues, and the pressure generated by political progress increases, we expect more violence across Iraq,” said Alston at a news conference.
While Iraqi and US officials expressed hope election results would be ready just weeks after the voting, expectations are now that the first session of the new parliament might not meet for another two or three months.
(By Carmen Gentile, senior international correspondent)
Some Sunni insurgent groups, such as the Islamic Army, have reportedly become dissatisfied with the Iraqi branch of al-Qaida led by the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the New York Times reported.
At the same time, other Sunni militant groups, have allied themselves with al-Qaida and support their version of jihad, even if it means killing innocent Iraqis along the way.
“Some elements of Sunni insurgents have declared war on al-Qaida in Iraq while others have joined up,” Khaled al-Rodhan, a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, told ISN Security Watch.
An Islamic Army fighter who goes by the name Abu Lil told the Times that in a heated battle on 23 October, al-Qaida fighters killed two insurgents in a fight in the outskirts of Taji, a city just north of Baghdad.
The fighting occurred just days after representatives from both sides met in the town. “Al-Qaida killed two people from our group," affirmed Lil, adding that the world’s most notorious terror organization, “repeatedly kill our people [Sunni insurgents]”.
While some speculate just how deep the alleged divide is between Iraq’s al-Qaida and the insurgency, others like al-Rodhan “think it’s very real”.
Hoping to capitalize on the rift between their common enemies, US and Iraqi officials have reportedly been trying initiate contact with some Sunni insurgents hoping to convert them into allies against Zarqawi’s faction of al-Qaida.
Though Iraq’s insurgent groups have expressed different desires for how they would like to see Iraq governed in years to come - fiercely debating the merits of a secular versus a religious state - they all agree on the necessity to drive US and coalition forces out of Iraq as soon as possible.
However, the ongoing fighting and increasing Iraqi body count has spawned a growing resentment of the insurgency among some Sunnis who are more inclined to participate in the political process after missing out on last year’s January elections for a transitional government. The Sunnis boycotted the balloting.
In December’s elections, Sunnis headed to the polls en masse, ensuring themselves a stake in the new parliament, albeit a small one compared to the majority Shi’ites and Kurds.
Meanwhile, the continuing war in Iraq and the activities of al-Zarqawi in it appears to have formed a schism between Iraq’s al-Qaida and the international umbrella of the group led by terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, al-Rodhan surmised.
“The disagreement between Iraqi al-Qaida and Osama-led al-Qaida is very real,” al-Rodhan said.
“The non-Zarqawi al-Qaida has a political agenda (outside of Iraq),” he added in reference bin Laden’s desire to see an end to the US occupation of Afghanistan and presence of US and coalition forces in Middle Eastern countries.
Following the Jordanian bombing last year, for which al-Zarqawi took credit, an al-Qaida web site posted a message saying how the blast would hurt al-Qaida’s cause, noting the unnecessary deaths of civilians and collateral damage.
“Zarqawi’s only agenda is violence at this point … we haven’t seen what his goal after the fighting would be. Right now his goal seems to be just kill, kill, kill,” al-Rodhan said.
In other Iraq news, US military leaders in Baghdad predicted on Thursday that violence would increase in the coming weeks as Iraq began forming a government. Since the 15 December elections, some 500 people have been killed. During the same period, 54 US soldiers were also killed, noted US Brigadier General Donald Alston, spokesman for the coalition forces in Iraq.
“As democracy advances in the form of election results and government formation, and as the military pressure continues, and the pressure generated by political progress increases, we expect more violence across Iraq,” said Alston at a news conference.
While Iraqi and US officials expressed hope election results would be ready just weeks after the voting, expectations are now that the first session of the new parliament might not meet for another two or three months.
(By Carmen Gentile, senior international correspondent)
posted by Marko at 1/13/2006 08:57:00 AM
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