Word: sunni
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...Baghdad An Echo of Iraq's Dark Days A pair of deadly suicide attacks in the Iraqi capital have stoked fears that Sunni extremists may be preparing more violence in anticipation of the U.S. troop pullout later this year. On March 10, 33 people were killed in a blast following a reconciliation meeting in the town of Abu Ghraib on the outskirts of Baghdad. Two days earlier, at least 28 died in a similar attack outside Baghdad's police academy...
Those suspicions made some members of the Sahwa easy pickings for a tenacious insurgency that has capitalized on the rising resentment many in the Sunni community feel toward Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government. Among their complaints: that Baghdad has sometimes been a month or two late in forking over the $300-a-month salary for Sahwa patrolmen; that Sahwa leaders have been arrested, sometimes on charges harking back to their insurgent past, despite promises of amnesty; and most significant, that the government has been slow to make good on its pledge to incorporate...
...poverty, broken government promises and feelings of marginalization took hold of the Sunni community, all al-Qaeda and its allies had to do was wait. "The coalition and the Iraqi government told the people that the reason for their poverty was the insurgents. But when the people became Sahwa, their poverty was not alleviated," the insurgent source says. "They realized that their poverty was due to the Americans and the government. That's what's happening in western Baghdad...
There's been a marked uptick in violence over the past month across the country, especially in majority Sunni western and northern Baghdad neighborhoods that used to be insurgent strongholds. Almost 200 people were killed in March, many in attacks targeting the security forces or tribal leaders in these largely Sunni areas of the country, including the restive northern city of Mosul, a reflection of the insurgency's new target list...
...government has few good options to counter this threat. If it moves to purge suspect elements within the Sahwa, it could face a violent backlash and claims of sectarian prejudice, deepening already tense ties with the Sunni community. The weekend's spasm of street violence in Fadhil, a central Baghdad neighborhood once completely under al-Qaeda control, may be a harbinger of things to come. Iraqi forces clashed with members of the Sahwa movement in the neighborhood after they moved in to arrest its leader Adil al-Mashhadani. Fierce fighting ensued, leaving four dead. Mashhadani was detained on a litany...