A colonel’s proverbial deal with the devil returns Ramadi to Iraqi control

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When U.S. strategy in Iraq called for pulling American forces back to large, heavily protected bases last year, Army Col. Sean MacFarland was moving in the opposite direction. He built small, more vulnerable combat outposts in Ramadi’s most dangerous neighborhoods — places where al-Qaida had taken root.

Soon after, MacFarland started negotiating with a group of Sunni sheiks, some of whom have had mixed loyalties in the war. His superiors initially were wary, fearful the plan could backfire, he says. He forged ahead anyway.

He says the results were immediate when a sheik pledged to support the alliance with the U.S. Army, an agreement some of the sheiks involved would grandly name The Awakening. “Once a tribal leader flips, attacks on American forces in that area stop almost overnight,” MacFarland says.

Marine headquarters officers also raised concerns about the backgrounds of some of the tribal leaders involved in The Awakening. Anbar’s desolate roads and stretches of empty desert have long been home to smugglers. “I’ve read the reports” on al-Rishawi, MacFarland says. “You don’t get to be a sheik by being a nice guy. These guys are ruthless characters.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/04/gns_colonel_070430/

Shiek Sattar al-Rishawi leader of the Anbar Salvation Council

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1. Shiek Sattar who has been jailed three times by the U.S. for murdering rival tribal leaders

Has been named Chief of Counterterrorism and Security for Western Iraq.

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2. Al-Qa'ida in Iraq leader 'killed by Sunni tribesmen'

The leader of the group calling itself al-Qa'ida in Iraq has reportedly been killed by Sunni Muslim tribesmen north of Baghdad.

The killing of Aby Ayyub al-Masri has been reportedly by a number of Iraqi officials, but no further details have been disclosed.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/middle-east/article2499886.ece
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These would be Shiek Sattar's boys if correct.