Iraq on alert for Saddam anniversary
Updated: 2007-12-30 20:21
The chants referred to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who leads the Mahdi Army militia.
But a year later, al-Sadr's decision to declare a cease-fire, the influx of thousands of US troops and a decision by tens of thousands of predominantly Sunni tribesmen to back America instead of al-Qaida has managed to turn the tide. Violence in the past six months has dropped by 60 percent, the US military has said.
But tensions are still rife and the anniversary of Saddam's execution reminded many Iraqis that violence is never far away.
A leaflet scattered in the Sunni north Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah and issued in the name of the outlawed Baath party once led by Saddam said that Sunday marked "the first anniversary of the remembrance of the crime of Saddam's assassination committed by the Americans and the Iranian agents they have collaborated with to carry out a fake trial."
But in a predominantly Shiite area in east Baghdad, people wanted to forget Saddam.
"I don't care so much for this occasion, but it was a black page and was turned over. We hoped that after his death matters would be more better, but the result was the opposite," said Najim Jamal, 41. A Shiite, Jamal said violence got worse after Saddam's death before getting better.
A year after the execution, Iraq remains to a great degree divided along sectarian lines, although the US military has said the increased security should help efforts at national reconciliation.
In one such example, the top US commander in Iraq said al-Qaida was becoming increasingly fearful over losing the support of Sunni Arabs and has begun targeting the leaders of tribal councils who have switched allegiances in favor of America.
Gen. David Petraeus made the comments a few hours before a new audiotape of Osama bin Laden emerged, warning Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining the councils fighting al-Qaida or participating in any unity government.
He denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, a tribal force fighting al-Qaida in western Iraq. Abu Risha was killed in a bombing in September. The Awakening Council has since morphed into a mass movement that now includes more than 70,000 fighters in Anbar, Baghdad and other Sunni-dominated provinces.
Also known as Concerned Local Citizens, the councils are funded by the United States and have slowly started becoming a political force -- organizing themselves and actively seeking more participation in Iraq's Shiite-dominated political life.
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