A Sunni Arab tribal leader instrumental in driving Al Qaeda out of Iraq’s Anbar province was killed

Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was killed near his home in Ramadi, capital of Anbar. A Sunni Arab tribal leader instrumental in driving Al Qaeda out of Iraq’s Anbar province was killed by a bomb on Thursday, less than two weeks after he met US President George W. Bush in the desert region.
Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was killed near his home in Ramadi, capital of Anbar. He was the leader of an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes called the Anbar Salvation Council that joined forces with US troops to push Al Qaeda from much of the western area.
The bombing will serve as a stark warning to other tribal leaders and those cooperating with US forces in Iraq, especially given Abu Risha was so heavily guarded.
Iraq’s national security adviser Mowaffaq Rubaie condemned the attack and blamed Al Qaeda.
The US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, called the killing of Abu Risha “a terrible loss for Anbar province and all of Iraq”.
“It shows how significant his importance was and it shows Al Qaeda in Iraq remains a very dangerous and barbaric enemy,” Petraeus said in an interview with The Washington Post that was published on its website.
Two bodyguards and an aide to Abu Risha were also killed in the attack on the tribal leader’s car on the day Iraq’s Sunni Muslims marked the start of the fasting month of Ramadan. “The sheikh’s car was totally destroyed by the explosion. Abu Risha was killed,” Ramadi police officer Ahmed Mahmoud Alwani told Reuters.
Bush met Abu Risha and other tribal leaders during a highly symbolic trip to Anbar on September 3, where the American leader declared that improved security in the vast desert province was an example of what could happen elsewhere in Iraq.
The president is expected, in a televised address later on Thursday, to endorse plans for limited cuts in US troop levels in Iraq. He will likely refer to better security in Anbar to support his argument, but offer little else to Americans looking for a change of course in the unpopular conflict.
Police sources said Abu Risha was killed by a roadside bomb that targeted his armour-plated car. But one bodyguard who was not with Abu Risha said a bomb had been planted in his car, suggesting someone close to Abu Risha may have been involved.
Residents said a state of emergency had been declared in Ramadi. They said American and Iraqi troops had poured into the streets in a heavy show of force.
“We believe Abu Risha was one of the most important security personnel in Iraq,” said Brigadier General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, spokesman for the interior ministry in Baghdad.
“The minister of interior has made an order that a statue be erected where he was killed or in any other place that the people of Anbar select.”
Success story
Abu Risha, who was believed to be in his early 40s, set up the Anbar Salvation Council last year to fight al Qaeda, an effort which has been held up by US leaders as one of the biggest success stories in improving security after more than four years of conflict.
His brother, Ahmed Abu Risha, would take over as head of the council, a source in the body said.
Bush’s trip last week to Anbar would have been unthinkable just months ago when it was the most dangerous province in Iraq for US troops and the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency.
“It was once written off as lost. It is now one of the safest places in Iraq,” Bush had said.
In Washington, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell called Abu Risha “a brave warrior”.
“It’s certainly our hope and our belief that he has spawned a movement that will outlive him,” Morrell said.
Al Qaeda once controlled large swathes of Anbar but the network angered local tribal leaders with its indiscriminate killing of civilians and harsh interpretation of Islam.
Abu Risha was instrumental in getting young men to start joining local police forces, a development that has sharply reduced levels of violence and forced many Al Qaeda fighters to flee to other provinces.
It was one of the first examples of the US military working with tribal leaders in Iraq to develop local police to secure their own communities.