[Previous entry: "IRAQ'S CIVIL WAR HAS COST $3,000 PER U.S. FAMILY-- SO FAR"] [Next entry: "Use of force against Iran is on agenda, warns bullish Rumsfeld"]

02/07/2006:

"Sunnis build up their own militia in Iraq"

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni Arabs have formed their own militia to counter Shi'ite and Kurdish forces as part of an attempt to regain influence they lost after Saddam Hussein was toppled.

The so-called "Anbar Revolutionaries" have emerged from a split in the anti-U.S. insurgency, which included al Qaeda.

They are a new addition to a network of militias that have thrived in Iraq's bloody chaos and are tied to the country's leading ethnic and political parties, now negotiating the formation of a coalition government after the December 15 election, the second such polls since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The newly-organized militia is made up mostly of Saddam loyalists leading an insurgency against U.S. and Iraqi government forces, Iraqi Islamists and other nationalists.
reuters.com

Iraq's Sadr says US spreading strife among Arabs
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr met Syrian leaders on Monday and said the United States and Israel were trying to spread strife among Arab countries.

Sadr, who led two anti-U.S. uprisings in Iraq, expressed support for Syria, which is facing western pressure over its alleged support for rebels in Iraq and the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

"Both Iraq and Syria are under U.S. pressure. We have good relations but our common enemies, Israel, the United States and Britain, are trying to spread strife among us. The people will not fall for this," he told reporters.

"I will help Syria in every way. We are witnessing Islamic solidarity," said Sadr, who met President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara.