Fiery Dawn
Last week, after two of his nephews were slaughtered by Al Qaeda, prominent Sunni Sheik Wathiq al-Obeidi decided to throw in with the fight against the terrorists. He delivered a fiery speech during the young mens’ funeral, ordering his followers into battle, and urging the entire north Baghdad district of Azamiyah to “rise up against Al Qaeda”.
“We have to fight foreign fighters in our city,” witnesses quoted him as saying. “We have to fight those linked to al-Qaida in Azamiyah.”
Azamiyah is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Baghdad and has been surrounded by a security barrier.
Al Qaeda first responded on Tuesday by issuing a statement calling him a traitor and accusing him of working with the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Sunni tribal leaders who are fighting al-Qaida in Iraq in the province of the same name west of Baghdad.
“The so-called Wathiq and his followers … are a legitimate target for mujahedeen (holy warriors),” Al Qaeda said.
Followers denied the cleric, a former preacher at the Abu Hanifa mosque, was linked to the U.S.-backed Anbar group. But he had just begun his war last week, so he wouldn’t have had much time to get all that togehter even if he wanted to. It’s basically an irrelevant point, because with or without a formal alliance with the Anbar group, he had brought his people into war with Al Qaeda anyway.
At the crack of dawn today, Al Qaeda bombed and stormed his house. After the initial massive explosion, a fierce firefight ensued which spread throughout the neighborhood.
Wathiq was seriously wounded, but so far is still alive. His brother and two female relatives were killed, according to the head of the neighborhood council Dawood al-Azami.
Given that Wathiq had until recently remained neutral, and that the neighborhood is now in a blood feud with the terrorists, the whole scenario represents another significant setback for Al Qaeda. With or without Sheib Wathiq, Azamiyah is now amongst the hordes against them.
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Seems to me that the local leadership should be running the country, and not the useless Iraqi legislature. Put the locals in charge of their own affairs and let them decide the fate of AQI and their own futures. The Iraqi parliment is a useless entity. Maliki is no better. The local shieks and mullahs are the keys to stability in Iraq.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:16 amWell I hope this guy makes it, we can never have too many people in Iraq like him. People who have been with us all along or those who are just now getting it. They are equally important for the survival of Iraq.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:31 amI agree, America was founded as a republic because people Iidentified with the states before the federal government. Iraq should really be run as a looser republic until the people gain confidence in the government. hold state elections and let those leaders represent the people
August 11th, 2007 at 10:32 am