GUBA, Iraq — Under protection of U.S. soldiers, Gov. Raad Rashid al-Tamimi — a Shiite — sat atop a child’s desk in a dilapidated schoolhouse early last week and goaded a dozen of Guba’s tribal elders to join a reconciliation effort that has so far enticed 19 of the province’s 26 major tribes.
A day later, a suicide bomber ravaged another such reconciliation meeting in al-Tamimi’s hometown of Baqouba, killing at least 15 people and lightly wounding the 52-year-old governor, who was believed to be the target. Two U.S. soldiers were wounded in the bombing.
Such is the ebb and flow of reconciliation and violence in Diyala province, where the sectarian and tribal chasms are wide.
U.S. military officials say they want to capitalize on signs of progress by engaging tribal leaders who were too scared to come forward before.
Nearly 1 million of Diyala’s 1.6 million residents are followers of sheiks who have signed a U.S.-sponsored reconciliation agreement in recent months, U.S. military officials said.
But policing the pledge is difficult, and U.S. officials acknowledge that some sheiks may renounce violence in front of U.S. commanders, but succumb to sectarian pressure afterward.
In the reconciliation agreement, leaders swear on the Quran to support the elected Iraqi government and to refuse to allow al-Qaida and other militant groups safe haven in their tribes. Thirteen of the 19 tribes involved are Sunni; six are Shiite.
In Diyala, the challenge is not only to get Sunnis to deny al-Qaida refuge in their ranks. It is also to unite Sunni and Shiite factions that have fought generations-long battles that were made worse by the U.S.-led war and the influx of foreign fighters.
“For some of these village elders, it has nothing to do with al-Qaida. In some places, they’re not fighting al-Qaida — they’ve been fighting each other, tribe versus tribe,” al-Tamimi said.
In Mukisha, he sat under a lemon tree with Sunni townspeople, as curious bystanders slowly filled the courtyard. Listening to the governor, men in white Muslim robes circulated a ghastly photo of a 5-year-old boy, partly decapitated in an al-Qaida attack.
“Why are we divided? We have lived here for generations, but some people have taken advantages of our differences,” al-Tamimi told them.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
