Reports: Seven Sunni insurgent groups form political alliance

Above: 'Former' insurgents with the 1920s Revolutionary Brigades cross a river near Buhriz in early July as they fought al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia forces with the support and encouragement of the U.S.

Insurgents form political front to plan for US pullout

Seven of the most important Sunni-led insurgent organisations fighting the US occupation in Iraq have agreed to form a public political alliance with the aim of preparing for negotiations in advance of an American withdrawal, their leaders have told the Guardian.

In their first interview with the western media since the US-British invasion of 2003, leaders of three of the insurgent groups - responsible for thousands of attacks against US and Iraqi armed forces and police - said they would continue their armed resistance until all foreign troops were withdrawn from Iraq, and denounced al-Qaida for sectarian killings and suicide bombings against civilians.

Speaking in Damascus, the spokesmen for the three groups - the 1920 Revolution Brigades, Ansar al-Sunna and Iraqi Hamas - said they planned to hold a congress to launch a united front and appealed to Arab governments, other governments and the UN to help them establish a permanent political presence outside Iraq.

Abu Ahmad, spokesman for Iraqi Hamas said: "Peaceful resistance will not end the occupation. The US made clear it intended to stay for many decades. Now it is a common view in the resistance that they will start to withdraw within a year. "

Read the rest at the Guardian

Fledgling Sunni alliance might reduce Iraq bloodshed

The emergence of a fledgling political alliance between Sunni insurgents in Iraq could illustrate a big change that might eventually reduce the bloodshed, the Middle East head of a leading defence thinktank said today...

"We have already recently seen the US military deciding, quite controversially, to give weapons to some Sunni insurgent groups in the belief that they will use them against al-Qaida," he said.

"These Iraqi Sunni groups who have now been talking are coming from much more of a nationalist position than the al-Qaida fighters. What they are saying is that, yes, they are against the foreign occupiers, but they are also against the foreign fighters coming into Iraq as part of al-Qaida."

Mr Pang, the head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Institute, said: "I think what these Sunni groups are now saying is highly significant. In a way, it is a sign showing the efficacy of the surge of US troops.

"It seems that some of the Sunni groups are on the back heel and questioning how effective the attacks on US forces are ... they are more and more coming round to the importance of being part of some form of political process."

The purpose of the fledgling alliance, which includes all of the main Sunni insurgent groups, apart from al-Qaida and the Ba'athists, is reportedly to create a united front ahead of negotiations with the US before what they hope will be an early pullout.

Read the rest at the Guardian

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