Sheikh Sittar
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Sheikh Sittar is the chief of the 30,000 strong Abu Resha Tribe (Iraq) who live in western Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate. He has been the head of the tribe since the murder of his father by Al Qaeda during the Iraqi insurgency. He has recently become an ally of the Iraqi government and the US Army through forming an organisation of fellow tribal chiefs called Sahawat Al Anbar or the National Awakening Council based in Ramadi.
During the early part of the insurgency as al-Qaeda’s fighters tightened their grip on Ramadi, they became increasingly repressive and challenged the tribal leaders’ power. Soon they were kidnapping and beheading innocent people as part of a campaign of extortion and intimidation.
“We began to see what they were actually doing in Anbar province. They were not respecting us or honouring us in any way, their tactics were not acceptable.” - Sheikh Sittar, March 2007
During the late summer of 2006 Sheikh Sittar began enlisting his fellow sheikhs in Sahawat Al-Anbar and encouraging members of his tribe to join the local police force. Since June they have contributed a reported 1,300 members to the Ramadi police. In March 2007 he held face to face meetings with Nouri al-Maliki the Prime Minister of Iraq.
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