BAGHDAD, Iraq - Residents reported curious declarations hanging from mosque walls and market stalls recently in Ramadi, the Sunni Muslim insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad. The fliers said Iraqi militants had turned on and were killing foreign al-Qaida fighters, their one-time allies.
A local tribal leader and Iraq's Defense Ministry have said followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, have begun fleeing Anbar province and Ramadi, its capital, to cities and mountain ranges near the Iranian border.
"So far we have cleared 75 percent of the province and forced al-Qaida terrorists to flee to nearby areas," said Osama al-Jadaan, a leader of the Karabila tribe, which has thousands of members living along the border with Syria.
Tribes in the central city of Hawija, where some al-Qaida fighters sought refuge, issued statement earlier this week openly declaring war on foreign al-Qaida members.
"We are against the killing of civilians for sectarian or ethnic reasons. That's why we are shedding the blood of Muslim extremists, especially al-Qaida," said Abul-Rahman Mansheed, a top Sunni politician in Hawija.
Army Maj. Gen. Anwar Mohammed Amin, in the nearby city of Kirkuk, said the military soon would launch a major attack, with help from the local tribesmen, to clear that region of al-Qaida as well.
Claims such as those issued by the tribesmen and local military officers are nearly impossible to confirm, but the considerable drop in suicide bombings throughout the country recently indicates operations by al-Qaida foreigners have been hampered.
Al-Jadaan, the Anbar tribal leader, looked confidently to the future and ? if his prediction comes true ? what likely will be a hero's role in the eyes of the U.S. military.
"Under my leadership and that of our brothers in other tribes, we are getting close to the shelter of this terrorist," al-Jadaan said of al-Zarqawi. "We will capture him soon."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060309/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fighting_al_zarqawi
A local tribal leader and Iraq's Defense Ministry have said followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, have begun fleeing Anbar province and Ramadi, its capital, to cities and mountain ranges near the Iranian border.
"So far we have cleared 75 percent of the province and forced al-Qaida terrorists to flee to nearby areas," said Osama al-Jadaan, a leader of the Karabila tribe, which has thousands of members living along the border with Syria.
Tribes in the central city of Hawija, where some al-Qaida fighters sought refuge, issued statement earlier this week openly declaring war on foreign al-Qaida members.
"We are against the killing of civilians for sectarian or ethnic reasons. That's why we are shedding the blood of Muslim extremists, especially al-Qaida," said Abul-Rahman Mansheed, a top Sunni politician in Hawija.
Army Maj. Gen. Anwar Mohammed Amin, in the nearby city of Kirkuk, said the military soon would launch a major attack, with help from the local tribesmen, to clear that region of al-Qaida as well.
Claims such as those issued by the tribesmen and local military officers are nearly impossible to confirm, but the considerable drop in suicide bombings throughout the country recently indicates operations by al-Qaida foreigners have been hampered.
Al-Jadaan, the Anbar tribal leader, looked confidently to the future and ? if his prediction comes true ? what likely will be a hero's role in the eyes of the U.S. military.
"Under my leadership and that of our brothers in other tribes, we are getting close to the shelter of this terrorist," al-Jadaan said of al-Zarqawi. "We will capture him soon."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060309/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fighting_al_zarqawi
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