'Holy Warriors' in Samarra Reject Accord With Americans
A group claiming to speak for insurgents in the contested city of Samarra said Friday that it had rejected an agreement that allowed American forces and the Iraqi government to re-enter the city, and the group pledged to continue fighting.
In the statement, the group also claimed to be joining forces with a similar organization in Falluja, raising the prospect of a troubling new cooperation among Sunni insurgents.
The declaration came a day after American forces and Iraqi police officers entered the city for the first time in months and reconvened the local government. Since July, insurgents have had the run of Samarra, much as they have in cities across the so-called Sunni Triangle, including Falluja, Ramadi and Tal Afar.
On Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, American soldiers stayed out of the city, according to witnesses, who said insurgents roamed the streets freely, in plain view of the police. The mayor's office, the only building the Americans occupied during their foray for a few hours on Thursday, remained closed.
"Today it is all quiet in Samarra," Maj. Neal O'Brien of the First Infantry Division wrote in an e-mail message.
The statement, by a group calling itself the Mujahedeen Shura, or Council of Holy Warriors, disavowed any connection with the agreement, and it insisted that city leaders who had negotiated with the Americans did not speak for the insurgents. The insurgents said any Iraqis who took part in the negotiations with the Americans would be considered apostates, who in Islam can be punished by death.
"Anyone who supports the agreement will be considered a defector from Islam," according to the statement, which was read over the telephone to The New York Times.
The rebel who read the statement claimed that the group represented all the insurgents fighting in Samarra, but that seemed doubtful. Ahmed Abdul Ghafour, a senior cleric in the city, said the insurgency appeared to be split over the question of the negotiations. Some favored them, he said, and others did not.
Sheik Abdul Karim Albu Baz, one of the leaders in Samarra who took part in the negotiations with the Americans, said leaders intended to appoint a new 120-person city council, of which 20 members would be insurgents. That suggested that at least some rebels might be willing to stop fighting for a time.
"The Iraqi government agreed to all the conditions set by the holy warriors," Mr. Baz said.
Mujahedeen Shura said it intended to fight the Americans in Samarra in the same way that insurgents did in Falluja, where Americans pulled back in April and allowed a similar council to govern the city. The insurgents regularly attack American convoys that patrol near Falluja.
The Samarra group's statement said its fighters had agreed to merge with the Mujahedeen Shura in Falluja. The group in Samarra said it would take its orders from Abdullah al-Janabi, the head of the Falluja council, which has set up a Taliban-like government in the city.
The declaration by the guerrillas in Samarra that they were joining with their comrades in Falluja could mark a significant development in the 17-month-old insurgency. American commanders have long held that the insurgency is composed of disparate groups across the country without a unified chain of command.
DEXTER FILKINS
Published: September 11, 2004
Two Iraqi employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Baghdad and Falluja for this article.
In the statement, the group also claimed to be joining forces with a similar organization in Falluja, raising the prospect of a troubling new cooperation among Sunni insurgents.
The declaration came a day after American forces and Iraqi police officers entered the city for the first time in months and reconvened the local government. Since July, insurgents have had the run of Samarra, much as they have in cities across the so-called Sunni Triangle, including Falluja, Ramadi and Tal Afar.
On Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, American soldiers stayed out of the city, according to witnesses, who said insurgents roamed the streets freely, in plain view of the police. The mayor's office, the only building the Americans occupied during their foray for a few hours on Thursday, remained closed.
"Today it is all quiet in Samarra," Maj. Neal O'Brien of the First Infantry Division wrote in an e-mail message.
The statement, by a group calling itself the Mujahedeen Shura, or Council of Holy Warriors, disavowed any connection with the agreement, and it insisted that city leaders who had negotiated with the Americans did not speak for the insurgents. The insurgents said any Iraqis who took part in the negotiations with the Americans would be considered apostates, who in Islam can be punished by death.
"Anyone who supports the agreement will be considered a defector from Islam," according to the statement, which was read over the telephone to The New York Times.
The rebel who read the statement claimed that the group represented all the insurgents fighting in Samarra, but that seemed doubtful. Ahmed Abdul Ghafour, a senior cleric in the city, said the insurgency appeared to be split over the question of the negotiations. Some favored them, he said, and others did not.
Sheik Abdul Karim Albu Baz, one of the leaders in Samarra who took part in the negotiations with the Americans, said leaders intended to appoint a new 120-person city council, of which 20 members would be insurgents. That suggested that at least some rebels might be willing to stop fighting for a time.
"The Iraqi government agreed to all the conditions set by the holy warriors," Mr. Baz said.
Mujahedeen Shura said it intended to fight the Americans in Samarra in the same way that insurgents did in Falluja, where Americans pulled back in April and allowed a similar council to govern the city. The insurgents regularly attack American convoys that patrol near Falluja.
The Samarra group's statement said its fighters had agreed to merge with the Mujahedeen Shura in Falluja. The group in Samarra said it would take its orders from Abdullah al-Janabi, the head of the Falluja council, which has set up a Taliban-like government in the city.
The declaration by the guerrillas in Samarra that they were joining with their comrades in Falluja could mark a significant development in the 17-month-old insurgency. American commanders have long held that the insurgency is composed of disparate groups across the country without a unified chain of command.
DEXTER FILKINS
Published: September 11, 2004
Two Iraqi employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Baghdad and Falluja for this article.
posted by R7 | 9/12/2004 04:19:00 AM
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