BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said yesterday that an anti-government sit-in had become a headquarters for Al Qaeda, and called for protesters to depart before security forces move in.
If forces move against the site, where Sunni Arab demonstrators have gathered for almost a year, it would likely inflame widespread discontent among the minority community and could add to the already-rampant violence plaguing the country.
Maliki’s remarks came a day after a disastrous military operation against militants in the mostly Sunni Anbar province west of Baghdad, in which five senior officers and 10 soldiers were killed.
The protest site is in the Anbar city of Ramadi, but is nowhere near where the clashes took place.
“I say clearly and honestly that the sit-in site in Anbar has turned into a headquarters for the leadership of Al Qaeda,” Maliki, a Shia, said in remarks broadcast on Iraqiya state TV.
“We now have a headquarters for Al Qaeda leading the armed operations against Iraq and the Iraqi people, and this is something about which we cannot be silent,” he said.
He called on “those who are with them in this place who refuse sabotage and who have legal or illegal demands... to leave these camps, and leave this place, so that Al Qaeda stays alone,” adding that protesters had a “very short period” in which to leave.
He called on security forces to take a “firm stance to end the headquarters of Al Qaeda, which has become a danger not only for Anbar, but for Iraq in general.”
Demonstrations broke out in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq at the end of last year, after security forces arrested guards of then-finance minister Rafa Al Essawi, an influential Sunni Arab politician, on terrorism charges.
The arrests were seen by Iraqi Sunnis as the latest example of the Shiite-led government targeting one of their leaders.
But the demonstrations have tapped into deeper grievances, with Sunnis saying they are both marginalised by the Shia-led government and unfairly targeted with heavy-handed tactics by security forces.
Sunni discontent has been a key factor in the escalating unrest in Iraq this year, boosting recruitment for militant groups, pushing them to carry out attacks and eroding cooperation with security forces. While the government has made concessions to placate Sunni Arabs, including freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of anti-Al Qaeda fighters, underlying issues remain unaddressed. The last major security operation at a protest site, which took place near the northern town of Hawijah on April 23, sparked clashes in which dozens of people were killed.
AFP
