Local Iraqi forces have been celebrating what they say is a significant victory against al-Qaeda in the province of Diyala, north of Baghdad.
The men - aligned to local Sunni leaders and once anti-government fighters themselves - claim to have captured up to 60 members of al-Qaeda, including some of the group's regional leaders.
Recent violence blamed on the group has taken its toll, turning residents against an organisation they now feel has let them down, local officials say.
Last month, Osama bin Laden criticised his followers in Iraq for losing the support of the locals.
Husein al-Zubaidi, a Diyala official, said: "Al-Qaeda cheated people under the name of 'jihad' and their actions were against all principles.
"They hurt all Iraqi sects, this is what pushed the national armed groups to face them strongly and bravely."
Former Sunni fighters on Saturday asked the US to stay away, then ambushed members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, killing 18 in a battle that raged for hours north of Baghdad, a former Sunni group leader and Iraqi police said.
Abu Ibrahim, a senior Islamic Army leader, said on Saturday that his fighters killed 18 al-Qaeda fighters and captured 16 in the fight southeast of Samarra, a mostly Sunni city about 90km north of Baghdad.
Anbar example
The most notable sign of shifting alliances has been that of tribal chiefs from Anbar, Iraq's largest Sunni province, joining with the government to fight al-Qaeda.
There are also reports that armed groups once allied to al-Qaeda have started to turn against them.
In a sign the government is working towards reconciliation, 70 former members of Saddam Hussein's party were reinstated to their jobs after they joined the fight against al-Qaida in Anbar, Ali al-Lami, a senior official with the commission that considered their cases, said.
Al-Lami told the Associated Press news agency that the former Baath party members included 12 university professors, officers in the disbanded Iraqi army, former policemen and teachers.
Losing ground
According to a US military commander in Baghdad's southern areas, al-Qaeda is losing ground.
Major-General Rick Lynch, who also monitors military activities in the provinces of Babel, Karbala, Najaf and Wasit, said on Sunday the fighters were losing local support as thousands of former anti-American militias had now allied themselves with the US military.
Lynch also said that the quantity of Iranian bomb-making components being found in Iraq is increasing despite a fall in attacks and 20 Iranian-trained agents are still operating south of Baghdad.
He said: "Iranian influence is dominant at many levels."
Lynch's command is said to cover some of Iraq's most dangerous areas, including the so-called Triangle of Death, south of Baghdad.
'Concerned citizens'
Lynch said around 26,000 Iraqis were now working with the military to help secure the region.
He said: "Al-Qaeda has lost support. It does not have support from the local population."
A large number of the "concerned local citizens" - a term used by the US military - were former fighters who battled US-led forces after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government.
Lynch said nearly 16,000 of the 26,000 "concerned citizens" were being employed by the US military to guard checkpoints, bridges and other infrastructure and act as neighbourhood watchdogs.
In related news, British officers have met Iraqi fighters as part of efforts to end sectarian violence, an army officer said in an interview published on Sunday.
Major-General Paul Newton, a senior British army commander in Iraq, told The Sunday Telegraph that he leads a unit - along with a senior US state department official - that is contacting anti-government fighters and their sympathisers to try to find common ground.
Maliki satisfied
For his part, Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said on Sunday that "terrorist acts" including car bombings and other al-Qaeda-style attacks have dropped by 77 per cent.
He called it a sign that Sunni-Shia violence was nearly gone from Baghdad.
"We are all realising now that what Baghdad was seeing every day - dead bodies in the streets and morgues - is ebbing remarkably," al-Maliki said.
Nevertheless, a trickle of violence continued on Sunday, with at least 10 people killed or found dead around the country.
The toll included a 12-year-old girl in Baghdad's Baladiyat area, who was killed by a roadside bomb that aimed for a US convoy but missed its target, police said.
(More) http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...ABAB700DBF.htm
Never should a believer kill a believer; but (If it so happens) by mistake, (Compensation is due): If one (so) kills a believer, it is ordained that he should free a believing slave, and pay compensation to the deceased's family, unless they remit it freely. If the deceased belonged to a people at war with you, and he was a believer, the freeing of a believing slave (Is enough). If he belonged to a people with whom ye have treaty of Mutual alliance, compensation should be paid to his family, and a believing slave be freed. For those who find this beyond their means, (is prescribed) a fast for two months running: by way of repentance to Allah. for Allah hath all knowledge and all wisdom.
4:92
So you think it is OK to allow a operson to do any kind of evil because they are a Muslim?
And stop making it out as though I'm running the show, do you think anyone who's in their right mind would allow unlawful killings? Does that change when it comes to Muslims?
Your running the show?
Of course I don't "think anyone who's in their right mind would allow unlawful killings". But I was confused as to your stance.
What stance? Seriously I think your age is getting to you.
Anyway, my point was that I don't really care who supports who, I'm just happy as long as there is no killing. Full stop. Why should I have to get into the stupid politics of things?
Well that's not a bad stance. One I have to agree with.
wow, it seems as though there is a bit of a turning point in Iraq right now huh? I wonder where all those people are who said the war was lost, etc.? If this was a thread about continuing casualties and suicide bombs this thread would be thriving with conversations about the US being behind it all, and stealing oil and all the other usual rubbish..... Funny how the US has been attacked on this forum so many times for all the violence in Iraq, but as soon as the Iraqis start standing up for themselves and fighting this "militant islam" group call "Al-qaeda" the violence drops by over 70%? How about some apologies people as time is telling exactly who was behind this? How about some condemnation? How about accepting that there is a radical form of Islam in this world that misleads its followers and has caused both the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now spilling into Pakistan.... I am sure we will never see it
(This message is directed specifically at certain people who I am very sure that they know who they are)
Pray for continuing progress toward peace in Iraq
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
- Bertrand Russell
"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the
enemy." - George Washington
MTAFFI,
We are usually on the same page, but not with this one.
The war is a he11 of a long way from being won. IMHO what we have lost is a lot more than we will ever win.
Funny how the US has been attacked on this forum so many times for all the violence in Iraq
I don’t see anything funny about it. We stated a war we lacked justification for and before it is all done, more than a million will die for it.
Al-Qaeda did not exist in Iraq before we invaded so I hardly think apologies to us is necessary but hopefully those refuse to accept reality will come to acknowledge that there is a “radical form of Islam” in the world.
I started this thread not as some form of victory notice. I just hope we kill the demon that we have created and then get out.
the so-called muslims who side with their kuffar against their brothers are in general principle apostates, and should be dealt with as such.
the americans have been throwing money at these tribes for a few years now, trying to divide and conquer and it just goes to show that as muslims we are not beaten by our enemies but by ourselves and our own weaknesses.
the so-called muslims who side with their kuffar against their brothers are in general principle apostates, and should be dealt with as such. So you think it is OK to drill holes in there knees then shot them in the head?
the americans have been throwing money at these tribes for a few years now, trying to divide and conquer Divide and conquer or stop them from killing each other? I think the latter.
and it just goes to show that as muslims we are not beaten by our enemies but by ourselves and our own weaknesses. Too bad you didn't have a chance to live under SH.
assalaamu alaykum,
Abu Abdullah
Because I don't aprove of the war doesn't mean I don't to see the killing stop.
For some time not most of the killing has been based on criminal activity and sectarian violance.
it is generally the state police / shia militia who have been watching driller killer too many times, the mujahadeen just go for the simple head chop or bullet to the back of the head, remember the iraqi govt prison that was raided by US forces and where they found drilled prisoners and ones whose skin had been flayed off their backs?
if saddam was still there i would advocate his death also, as well as the current apostate rulers, saddam was the wests pet puppy who grew into a rabid dog, though it may be true he repented at the end.
it is generally the state police / shia militia who have been watching driller killer too many times, the mujahadeen just go for the simple head chop or bullet to the back of the head, remember the iraqi govt prison that was raided by US forces and where they found drilled prisoners and ones whose skin had been flayed off their backs?
if saddam was still there i would advocate his death also, as well as the current apostate rulers, saddam was the wests pet puppy who grew into a rabid dog, though it may be true he repented at the end.
anyway, havent got time for a debate. laters.
Abu Abdullah
If it is generally the state police / shia militia so does that mean all other sects are without fault? current apostate rulers? Are all Iraq goverment officials apostates? ffended:
wow, it seems as though there is a bit of a turning point in Iraq right now huh? I wonder where all those people are who said the war was lost, etc.? If this was a thread about continuing casualties and suicide bombs this thread would be thriving with conversations about the US being behind it all, and stealing oil and all the other usual rubbish..... Funny how the US has been attacked on this forum so many times for all the violence in Iraq, but as soon as the Iraqis start standing up for themselves and fighting this "militant islam" group call "Al-qaeda" the violence drops by over 70%? How about some apologies people as time is telling exactly who was behind this? How about some condemnation? How about accepting that there is a radical form of Islam in this world that misleads its followers and has caused both the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now spilling into Pakistan.... I am sure we will never see it
(This message is directed specifically at certain people who I am very sure that they know who they are)
Pray for continuing progress toward peace in Iraq
apologies?????? are you well? something like "sorry, u.s. if we made your invasion and occupation an unpleasant and messy experience for you"?
each man thinks of his own fleas as gazelles
question authority
The thing will bring peace to Iraq quicker than anything else is stability and a viable economy. There are way too many Iraqis with nothing but empty wallets and ammunition.
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
I had a feeling that the post i put up earlier would cause a little anger out of some people, so let me just make it clear.
I was not speaking to everyone, i was speaking specifically to those who were saying that the US was bombing the mosques, the people who continuously refer to the Lancet study and the people who are constantly siding with Al-Qaeda and justifying their actions just because they claim to be a muslim group. These are the people who need to apologize, certainly not you snakelegs. (you seem to be a rational logical person)
I am not saying the conflict in Iraq is won, I am celebrating the progress. The conflict (I use this term b/c our troops are not at war they are police officers) in Iraq is far from over and it will take many years for that country to rebuild itself to a fully functioning country, and I will bet, that even though it may be a smaller number the suicide bombings, they will continue for many years.
Take Dawud for example on this thread, even though the US has obviously slowed the pace and put a dent in Al-qaeda and the Iraqis are getting a little peace he still insists that they are fighting their "brothers". These are not brothers my friend, these are enemies who do not abide by the Quran and its teachings, the Iraqis have every right and the responsibility to stand up against this group of terrorists and protect their lives and their families lives. You are on the wrong side of the fence my friend and I would just like a little recognition for the US progress in this war torn country.
I apologize to anyone who misunderstood my first post. I am not justifying the war in Iraq, just happy to see positive progress. Hope that all clears it up
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
- Bertrand Russell
"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the
enemy." - George Washington
lol, no offence mtaffi but i will not have a non-muslim tell me what is or isnt in the Quran and who is or isnt upon it and the sunnah.
to answer your question in general principle anyone who rules by other than Allah has revealed, making the haram into halal and halal into haram is a kaffir whether they claim islam or not.
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