Baghdad, Iraq – The assassination Thursday of the leader of the Sunni Arab revolt against al-Qaeda militants dealt a setback to one of the few success stories in U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq, but tribesmen in Anbar province vowed not to be deterred in fighting the terror movement.
U.S. and Iraqi officials hoped the death of Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha would not stall the campaign to drive al-Qaeda in Iraq from the vast province spreading west of Baghdad and reconcile Sunnis with the Shiite-led national government.
It was the biggest blow to the Anbar tribal alliance since a suicide bomber killed four anti-al-Qaeda sheiks as they met in a Baghdad hotel in June. Abu Risha had escaped a suicide attack in February. But those attacks and others did not stop the campaign against al-Qaeda.
Abu Risha, who was head of the Anbar Awakening Council and met with President Bush 10 days earlier, died when a roadside bomb exploded near his home just west of Ramadi as he returned from his farm, police Col. Tareq Youssef said. Two bodyguards and the driver also were killed.
Moments later, a car bomb exploded nearby but caused no casualties. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said the second bomb was intended as a backup in case Abu Risha escaped the first blast.
Allies undeterred
No group claimed responsibility for the assassination, but it was widely assumed to have been carried out by al- Qaeda, which already had killed 10 of Abu Risha’s relatives for working with the U.S. military.
Abu Risha’s allies as well as U.S. and Iraqi officials insisted the assassination would not deter them from fighting al-Qaeda, and the tribal alliance appears to have gained enough momentum to survive the loss of a single figure, no matter how key. Late Thursday, Abu Risha’s brother, Ahmed, was selected to replace him as head of the council.
A U.S. general, meanwhile, said a fatal attack on the headquarters garrison of the American military in Iraq this week was carried out with a 240mm rocket – a type of weapon that he said Iran provides to Shiite extremists.
One person was killed and 11 were wounded in the attack Tuesday outside Baghdad at Camp Victory, which includes the headquarters of Multinational Forces-Iraq.
Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner said a piece of shrapnel’s markings and manufacture were “consistent with” Iranian-produced munitions.
In violence Thursday in Baghdad, Iraqi police said six people were killed and 18 hurt when a bomb hidden under a parked car exploded near Sadr City. The bomb was apparently aimed at a U.S. convoy but missed its target – killing all civilians and setting shops on fire, police said.
In eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed one person and injured two, police said.
The attacks came despite the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Thursday for Iraq’s Sunni Muslims and today for the country’s majority Shiites.
