The fighting in Anbar has
not stopped Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from going after the leaders of the
country’s protest movement. One of the original causes of the conflict in the
governorate was the arrest of Iraqi Islamic Party Parliamentarian Ahmed Alwani
who was known for giving inflammatory speeches about Shiites at the Ramadi
sit-in square. Now Baghdad has warrants out for Sheikh Ali Hatem Sulaiman and
Sheikh Mohammed Taha Hamdun both prominent members of the demonstrations.
 |
| (Radio Nawa) |
On December 28, a story ran
in the Iraqi press that there were orders
to detain Sheikh Ali Hatem Sulaiman. The security forces expected him to
flee to Jordan, but he ended up in
Irbil instead. Since joining the demonstrations in Anbar Sheikh Sulaiman
has been a mercurial member. He started
off giving mainstream speeches demanding the release of prisoners for
example, but then quickly moved to more inflammatory remarks. He has accused
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of being a tool of Iran, demanded that he
resign, and called for tribes to arm themselves and form a Pride and Dignity
Army to protect the protest sites amongst other things. In December 2013 he
rejected closing or postponing of the protests when Anbar Governor Ahmed
Diab and the premier brought it up. Sulaiman has been seeking power in Anbar
for years now. He originally joined the Awakening believing that was his path to
success, but then split with it over how to enter politics. He at one time
aligned himself with Maliki for the 2010 elections, but then quickly broke with
him too until joining the protests at the end of 2012. He is an opportunistic
sheikh who has constantly gone from one ally to another with little to show for
it. Given his recent remarks about demonstrators and tribes arming themselves
to protect themselves against Baghdad it was no surprise when Maliki issued an
arrest warrant for him.
 |
| (Al Gharbiya) |
The attempt to take in Sheikh Mohammed Taha
Hamdun is a completely different matter. Hamdun is from Salahaddin’s Samarra
where he serves as one of the main
spokesmen for the Six Provinces protest group that is made up of the major
sit in sites in Anbar, Diyala, Tamim, Ninewa, and Salahaddin. He has given
speeches about making the protest movement the
legal representative of Sunni Arabs. He also announced
the formation of the Popular Trend Movement in October, which was to act as a
lobbying group for the demonstrator’s demands, and became one of its leaders. Hamdun
was even picked
up by the security forces in April 2013, but released in just a few hours. Unlike
Sulaiman, most of Hamdun’s statements have been about staying within the
political system to push for the protester's causes. This was exactly what
the protesters were trying to do previously when they selected Anbar Governor
Diab as their legitimate representative to negotiation with Baghdad. He was
able to gain a number of concessions
from Maliki that would have helped with development in Anbar, and released some
prisoners, but then the demonstrators said Diab had failed in his negotiations.
The prime minister put an end to that process when he had the Ramadi protest
site closed down. Why the government would want to go after a leader like
Hamdun who has advocated for making the protests into a political
movement and working within the system is not known. If he were to be arrested
it would probably lead to more demonstrations and complaints.
The fighting in Anbar is the
direct result of Prime Minister Maliki’s miscalculation that he could end the
protest movement, and now he is continuing with the same missteps by going
after some of the demonstration leaders. Sheikh Sulaiman has consistently
talked about taking on the government, arming the sit-in sites, and getting rid
of Maliki, so it was not surprising that the premier would want to lock him up.
Sheikh Hamdun is a different matter as he has been a mainstream voice within
the activists. If he were detained it would probably inflame matters even more,
and would be another mistake by the premier. Hopefully, Maliki will see that
more arrests are not what is needed right now with Anbar in open rebellion, and
these warrants will be thrown to the way side as others have been in the past.
SOUCES
Abbas, Mushreq, “Iraq’s Sunni Protesters Divided Over
Government Negotiations,” Al-Monitor, 10/14/13
Ali, Ahmed, “Al Qaeda in
Iraq and the Iraqi Anti-Government Protest Movement: Iraq Update #38,”
Institute for the Study of War, 10/28/13
Al Gharbiya News, “In light of the escalation against the
sit-in yards,” 1/2/14
Jawad, Haider Ali, “Anbar..Maliki issued an amnesty for
wanted..And half of the Albu Alwan tribe organized into Awakening..Al Qaeda
seized money from banks,” Buratha News 1/5/14
Al-Mada, “Suleiman refuses to raise the sit-in tents and
postpone the demands of the protesters until after the next parliamentary
elections,” 12/11/13
- “Sulaiman Responds to Maliki: clans fight any target for
sit-in yards and we are not attached to peg us your failure,” 12/23/13
Al Masalah, “Suleiman escaped from Anbar to “Erbil,”” 1/3/14
Radio Nawa, “Anbar Operations Command expects to escape Ali
Hatem al-Suleimani outside Iraq,” 12/28/13
Shafaq News, “Hayes: Our guns towards the protesters’
tents,” 12/22/13
Wicken, Stephen, “2013 Iraq
Update #18: Maliki Continues to Target Protesters and Calls for Majority Rule,”
Institute for the Study of War, 5/1/13
- “Maliki Eyes Third Term:
2013 Iraq Update #34,” Institute for the Study of War, 8/28/13
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