Insurgents anti-Al-Qaeda

Abu Khula, Abu Khula said his group represents some 17 nationalist insurgent organizations,Rahman Abu Khula said his movement, a group of former Baath party officials and army officers known as the Islamic Army, was at pains to distance his group, which is made up of largely secular former regime elements, from Islamist insurgent outfits such as Al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sunna, which are known for attacks targeting civilians.



"The brothers in Al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sunnah use explosions as part of their strategies," he said, claiming that Baathists and Saddamists are often wrongfully blamed for these atrocities. "We do not target Iraqis, even their animals.

The leaders of many of the Sunni Arab tribes which met on Sunday also criticized Al-Qaeda and other religious groups for provoking divisions in the resistance and attacking members of their tribes.

The latest statements came in the wake of a coordinated bombing campaign targeting civilians in Kirkuk on Sunday, with suicide car bombs in a market and in front of a women's teaching
college.

In the western province of Al-Anbar, the hostility to Al-Qaeda linked groups erupted into a full scale tribal onslaught called the Anbar Awakening, which was hailed by the government


jihad by speaking ( whispers ) and guiding others, (Fataawa
al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 7/334, 335)