Eli Lake & Josh Rogin, Bloomberg: Sunni Leader Warns Against Using Shiites to Retake Ramadi
As Iraq's Shiite militias gather on the outskirts of Ramadi in preparation for battle, a key Sunni tribal leader and opponent of Islamic State is warning against the militias' participation.
Sheikh Abdulrazzaq al-Dulaym said of the groups: "We warned of the popular organization entering Anbar and specifically Ramadi. If they enter now, it will cause a civil war." Speaking Monday at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, the sheikh said it was for Sunni Arabs in Iraq to take back Ramadi and not for the militias supported by Iran.
Abdulrazzaq is important for Washington. His father was the chief of the Dulaym tribe, the largest tribe that populates the territory seized by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The last time the U.S. defeated jihadists like the Islamic State, the sheikh's assistance was valuable. He turned on the group's predecessor organization, al-Qaeda in Iraq. This time around, he's offering to fight again even though many other Dulaym sheikhs today are allied with the terrorists.
WNU Editor: Iraq's sectarian divisions is now there for all to see.
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