IRAQ: In Anbar, a catfight at the podium

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There’s nothing like a gathering in a simmering war zone to bring out the meow factor in some people, especially if the war zone happens to be as rife with distrust and resentment as Iraq’s Anbar province.

Monday’s handover ceremony of Anbar’s security responsibilities, from U.S. to Iraqi forces, was a milestone. It showed how far the province has come since its days as the deadliest region for American troops in Iraq and the heart of the country’s Sunni Muslim insurgency. But the gaily colored, rainbow-striped tarp sheltering speakers from the searing desert sun couldn’t hide the darkness of some of their words.

The head of the Anbar provincial council, which is dominated by Islamic Party politicians, took aim at Anbar’s tribal leaders. He accused them of trying to stir up sedition with their claims that the Islamic Party leaders are corrupt and trying to deny the tribes political power. ‘We won’t let them,’ the council leader, Abdul-Salam Ani said, adding that the provincial council had the support of the central government in Baghdad and the parliament.

But he was followed to the microphone by the chief tribal leader in Anbar, Sheik Ahmed B. Abu Risha. Abu Risha insinuated that politicians like Ani were reaping the benefits of peace ushered in by the tribal-led Awakening movement. The Awakening was founded in Anbar in 2006 and is credited with turning the province around by allying Anbar’s Sunnis, who had once harbored insurgents, with U.S. forces fighting the insurgents.

The provincial council may have beaten the Awakening to the podium, Abu Risha cracked, but ‘they haven’t beaten us in taking action, thank God.’

The commander of American forces in Anbar, Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly, stayed away from finger-pointing but made clear that everyone had better get over their differences if Anbar’s relative calm is to remain. ‘If you do not, then the agony we will have endured together will have been for nothing,’ said Kelly, alluding to the thousands of Iraqi and American lives lost in the province during the battle to drive out Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Here is a look at the dramatic turnaround in U.S. fortunes in Anbar, whose border with Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan and whose overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population made it a magnet for Al Qaeda in Iraq, which used locals and foreign fighters imported across the porous frontiers to bolster its ranks.

Kelly also said the central government in Baghdad, which is Shiite-led, must make good on promises for reconstruction of Anbar, which was shattered during the war. ‘What Anbar needs now, and what will end this conflict forever and prevent Al Qaeda from ever coming back, is economic development, reconstruction and funds for compensation. This can only come from the central government in Baghdad,’ he said.

The sharp words at the podium highlight the reason that the original handover date, in late June, was delayed. There are concerns among locals and officials that the political animosity could lead to an unraveling of the security here. Despite the tribes’ actions since 2006, they remain politically disadvantaged in Anbar because they did not take part in provincial elections in 2005. Hence, the Islamic Party holds 36 of the provincial council’s 41 seats.

With new provincial elections anticipated sometime this year, and with the Awakening leaders agitating for big change in Anbar politics, things could come to a head. The two sides already are fighting over who should get use of one of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s old palaces after U.S. forces withdraw from it. Sources in Anbar say Abu Risha wants to make it the Awakening’s headquarters, but Anbar’s governor wants it for the provincial council.

Another example of the tribal-political battle underway , which could have security ramifications, is the provincial council’s attempt to oust the Anbar police commander, Maj. Gen. Tariq Yusif Muhammed Assal. In June, the provincial council voted to fire Assal, a fierce Islamic Party critic. Last week, it said Iraq’s Ministry of Interior had approved the decision.

But Assal, reached by phone Tuesday, insisted he is still on the job and railed against the Islamic Party and the council. Security may be better, Assal said, but politicians are so busy stuffing their pockets with money that Anbar’s people don’t have electricity, clean water, hospitals, schools and the other basics of life, even in the capital, Ramadi.

‘They’re like the Mafia. They are stealing the province,’ said Assal, adding that he fears corrupt politicians will also try to steal provincial elections.

It’s no wonder that not all Anbaris are confident about the future.

Kareem Mahmood, a 35-year-old teacher, said the handover of Anbar’s security to Iraqis was ‘a joy’ to most people, who hoped it would lead to the departure of the roughly 26,000 American forces in the province. But Abul-Qadir Fadhil, 40, said he feared insurgents could take advantage of the political squabbling ‘and make horrible retaliatory bombings, and this might require the Americans to come back and rule us.’

Thamir Hussein, a 27-year-old teacher, put it more simply, saying: ‘I’m happy, however I’m also afraid.’

--Times staff writers in Ramadi and Baghdad