Guerrillas Kill 18

"London-based Al-Hayat [Life] reports [Ar.] that Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has worked out a deal with Dulaim tribal leaders in Ramadi. American troops will be withdrawn and replaced by Iraqi troops who are from Anbar province. The deal was brokered by Jaafari, US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, and Gen. George Casey at a Sunday summit in Ramadi. In return, the tribal leaders pledged to put pressure on foreign jihadis and to isolate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist group. The agreement opens the way to substantial recruitment of soldiers from Ramadi, in return for local forces expelling guerrilla bands from the area.

Guerrillas blew up Ramadi residents standing in line for military and police recruitment in early January, perhaps in an atempt to forestall this agreement.

Also party to the agreement were clan chieftains of the al-Fallahat in Khalidiyah and leaders of al-Karamah south of Fallujah. They formed committees on which Sunni clerics serve.

A similar plan was tried in Fallujah in spring-summer of 2004, but the guerrillas managed to take over the city once US forces had withdrawn. Al-Hayat, which has Saudi funding, has been pushing this story of a rift between the Iraqi resistance forces and the Zarqawi group in recent weeks, and I'm worried that they are exaggerating the severity of the dispute and the willingness of the Iraqi guerrillas to give up the fight against US military occupation."
Juan Cole