Iraq: U.S. ambassador supports Maliki's charges against his Sunni vice-president

  U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey said: “There is a serious effort by the Iraqi judiciary to have a free and fair and just investigation,” “It seems a lot of care is being taken at this point to maintain judicial independence and to have a very broad investigation.” These remarks give support to Maliki in his attempt to discredit Hashemi and portray him as a terrorist.
  Many analysts however think that the charges against Hashemi are politically motivated and designed to consolidate power in Maliki's own hands. The move by Maliki has increased ethnic tensions and led to the withdrawal of a main coalition partner from government. Hashemi is in the northern Kurdistan part of Iraq because he claims he could not receive a fair trial in Baghdad. For more see this article.
  On January 5th the Iraqi parliament held an emergency session to deal with the political crisis. No details of the session were made public. Imagine a meeting of  parliament but the public cannot know what exactly happened! There were talks between Prime Minister Maliki and factions which are boycotting the government.
  Maliki is trying to patch up relations with the regional president Barzani. Barzani is stressing the need for federalism and warned of a catastrophe if Maliki tried to consolidate power further. But Barzani tried to distance himself from the prosecution of Hashemi claiming it was a legal rather than a political matter. For more see this article. The session hardly seems to have solved the political crisis and violent actions in the streets continue as well.

Iraqi Sunni Lawmaker Assassinated as he condemns Maliki

Things seem to be heating up in Iraq rather than settling down although the Kurds are carrying on with oil development and now even shipping it out even though there is no federal oil law. The Sunni Shia split may be aggravated by this attack although it may be that it was his criticism of Maliki rather than his being Sunni that led to his demise.

- News From Antiwar.com - http://news.antiwar.com -
Top Iraqi Sunni Lawmaker Assassinated as He Condemns Maliki
Posted By Jason Ditz On June 12, 2009 @ 7:51 am
Harith al-Obaidi, leader of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) in parliament, was assassinated today in a Baghdad mosque after delivering a sermon condemning the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for abuses of human rights.

After the sermon at the upscale Sunni mosque, a gunmen entered and opened fire on Obaidi, then threw a grenade into a crowd of worshippers. The attacker was then killed, though it is unclear if Obaidi’s guards killed him or he died when a second grenade detonated. The attack left five killed and 12 wounded.
Fellow MP Ahmed Masuudi, a member of the Shi’ite opposition bloc loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said “the attack was not a coincidence, it was planned.” He suggested that the attack was retaliation for Obaidi’s campaign for human rights, which the Sadr bloc is also in support of.
So far it is unclear who was responsible for the attack, though the government has blamed Sunni militants who it is speculated may have been upset at Obaidi for taking part in the political process. Still others blamed the government itself, saying that with all the checkpoints set up near the mosque it would be virtually impossible to smuggle a weapon into the area to carry out the assassination.
The killing of the IAF leader is almost certain to strain sectarian tensions in Iraq’s parliament, at a time when Prime Minister Maliki is openly seeking to undermine power-sharing agreements which granted the Sunni minority some measure of say in the actions of the US-backed government.

Tensions Rise Between "Awakening" and Iraqi Govt. Forces

Developments such as this may explain why the U.S. is not anxious to have a large drawdown of troops from Iraq. The funding of former insurgents to fight Al Qaeda has worked relatively well in damping down attacks by Al Qaeda linked groups but has at the same time increased conflict with Shia dominated government and police forces. It remains to be seen if this conflict can be controlled or if it will escalate.This is from AntiWar.


Tensions Rise Between 'Awakening' and Iraqi Govt Forces

by Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail
BAQUBA - US backed Sahwa forces threaten to destabilize US-backed Iraqi government forces in Iraq's volatile Diyala province.

The "Awakening Councils," known locally as the Sahwa, have left their centers in cities and districts around the capital of Diyala province, located 40 km northeast of Baghdad.

After seeing better security and stability brought about by the Sahwa, most of whom are former resistance fighters, residents are concerned what their absence will now mean.

The Sahwa are protesting against kidnappings, rape, and killing of Sunnis by the Shia-controled police in Baquba.

On the other hand, Shia politicians of Diyala, like those in Baghdad, have always shown their resentment against the fighters of the Sahwa. They often accuse the fighters of being "terrorists".

Many residents see this as more of the sectarian view of the predominantly Shia government of Baghdad that does not want to share power with Sunni groups.

According to the US military, 82 percent of the 80,000-strong Sahwa are Sunni.

"Police vehicles are used to kidnap Sunni people, and when asked, the police chief and government members say it is difficult to control the mistakes of all of the police and army," Abu Saad, a member of a local Sahwa group in Baquba told IPS. "We have to put an end to the bad conduct of the police and army. They have done enough bad things to the people of this city. The suffering of this city is because of them."

An employee who works in the provincial government office told IPS on condition of anonymity that corruption is compounding the problems between the Sahwa and government security forces.

"The politicians and leaders are more concerned about collecting and saving money rather than about the security and needs of the people," he said. "There is a hidden race towards money, and this money is used for their personal needs and to support militias. This is why there is a Shia person on the top of every office."

Locals have become increasingly resentful about the corruption and lack of government action to improve security and infrastructure in the city. "The members of the government in Diyala themselves do not want the city to be secure," said a local trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They want to keep ruling the province one-sidedly. People do not trust them, and suspect their allegiance."

The trader added, "Shia politicians of the Baghdad government want to keep their domination over Diyala, even though it is mostly Sunni." In 2003 estimates showed that Diyala province was roughly 85 percent Sunni.

As a result of rallies against the provincial police chief, Major General Ghanim al-Qureyshi, who the Sahwa say is a part of the corruption and anti-Sunni behavior of the government security apparatus, the fighters of the Awakening Councils have earned more support from residents.

"We are currently protecting Sunni people from the government police and army," Sahwa member Abu Laith told IPS. "An Iraqi police Hummer entered the New Baquba district and kidnapped a Sunni person recently. Before it left the district, the fighters of the Sahwa blocked the way and freed the kidnapped person, and arrested the four persons who were dressed up as policemen."

Laith, like most residents of Baquba, believes that most of the Iraqi police and army are members of various Shia militias.

"After a day, US troops came and took the four policemen to prison," Laith said. "When we asked (Diyala police chief) Qureyshi about them, he replied that he does not know. Of course we know he is lying."

The Sahwa in Diyala refuse to cooperate with the government, but maintain ties with coalition forces. The US forces are backing the Sahwa now more firmly than before.

This has brought a growing divide between the US armed and funded Sahwa, and the US-backed predominantly Shia government in Baghdad. Reconciliation seems remote within this seemingly contradictory strategy of the occupation forces, that many here call a "divide and rule" strategy.

US backing of the Sahwa members, who are each paid at least 300 dollars per month, is provoking resentment among Shias.

"The commander of the Sahwa, Abu Hader, has been given huge authority, and his bodyguards are Americans," a resident of the New Baquba district, speaking on condition of anonymity told IPS. "American snipers are posted over his house for his protection."

People of the New Baquba district feel safe with Abu Hader, he said. "He cares for the displaced people by giving them money and food, he cares for widows who lost husbands during these last few years, and he gives to and hires the unemployed."

In a move sure to enrage the government of US-installed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has opposed the Sahwa from the beginning, many groups are forming their own battalions, and conducting their own training, independent of the government.

"A group of the Awakening Councils fighters traveled to Sulaymaniya province in the north for training to become officers for the newly-formed battalion," Abu Ahmed, a member of the local Sahwa told IPS. "The Americans have finally replied to the cries and sufferings of Sunnis, who were unfairly treated through the period of occupation."

(Inter Press Service)

Conflicts between Iraqi government and US backed Sunni groups

This is from the NY Times. This type of reaction was predicted at the time the policy was first begun. The Shia government has always had doubts about the ultimate results of the policy. As evidence begins to emerge that the groups funded by the US may be used to purge Shia from Sunni areas this will just exacerbate the tension between Shia and Sunni.


February 10, 2008
Conflicts Deepen Between Local Iraqi Governments and U.S.-Backed Sunni Groups
By ALISSA J. RUBIN
BAGHDAD — Conflicts between provincial governments and local Sunni Arab forces allied with the United States intensified this weekend in two provinces. The conflicts raise the prospect that the creation of the forces, known as Awakening Councils or Concerned Local Citizens, formed to fight extremists and bring calm to the country, might instead add to the unrest in Diyala and Anbar provinces.
In Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, 300 members of the local concerned citizens groups, many of whom are former insurgents, left the outposts, from which they start patrols and guard the surrounding areas.
The citizens groups said the walkout was a protest against the Shiite police commander for the province, whom they accuse of being sectarian and a member of the Mahdi Army, a militia affiliated with the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, according to an official in the governor’s office who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The police commander, Staff. Gen. Ghanim al-Quraishi, has accused many in those citizens groups of continuing their past activities of killing and displacing Shiite families, and he has removed some of them from their posts and detained others.
The American military recruits and pays the groups to fight Islamic extremists. Although the groups have mostly seemed to be cooperating, more recently their behavior has been problematic.
In Anbar Province, tensions escalated between leaders of the local Awakening movement and the Iraqi Islamic Party, which as the sole major Sunni party to contest the most recent local elections won control of the provincial council. Party members said Saturday that they might bring a lawsuit against the Awakening leaders for saying they would oust the party from control; the leaders had previously called for a new election in the next few months in order to try to win seats on the council.