A pro-US Sunni tribal leader made a rare visit to the Iraqi capital's Shiite bastion of Sadr City on Tuesday in a bid for national reconciliation. Sheikh Hamid al-Hayis, the armed wing chief of an alliance of Sunni tribes fighting Al-Qaeda alongside US forces in Anbar province of western Iraq, visited supporters of hard-line Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "This meeting is a message to Iraqi politicians to get rid of their differences and to seek real reconciliation," Hayis said. "We are trying to pressure [the government] to make political changes for the sake of the Iraqi people who are drowning in the blood of their sons," he added.The Anbar tribes are hoping to turn their alliance into a national political movement and are fierce rivals to the main Sunni political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party. Sadr's movement, meanwhile, has withdrawn from the government.
Sadr, who has
The head of one of Sadr City's most influential tribes, Mohammadawi blamed the country's sectarian strife on "occupation forces and foreign [Sunni religious extremists]." Sunni insurgents, once supported by the Anbar tribes, continue to stage dramatic bombing attacks against Shiite civilians while militias, including Sadr's Mehdi Army, exact their revenge on Sunnis. In recent weeks, however, Sadr's movement has made moves to reach out to the Sunni community and build on its nationalist, rather than just Shiite, credentials.
Participants at Tuesday's meeting called for improved national security services, for holding internationally monitored provincial council elections, and for "calling any killer of Iraqis a terrorist who has to be fought."
The participants said they hoped to arrange future meetings involving Sadr himself.
"Abu Risha said he would visit Sadr soon," said Abdel-Mehdi al-Muteiri of Sadr's office, referring to Abdel-Sattar Baziyya of the Abu Risha tribe, the leader of the Anbar Awakening coalition. "There will be a meeting soon in the holy city of Najaf. The Sayyed [Sadr] liked and welcomed the idea of the visit," he added.
| This sounds promising but I'd like to see just how many dumptrucks full of dollars changed hands... |