Anbar tribal council: 'ISIS' operations in northern Iraq benefit Al-Maliki'

“The Islamic State’s operations against the territory region are in the interest of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki as they help him win his third term,” President of the Revolutionaries Council of Anbar province tribes, Sheikh Ali Hatem Suleiman, said.

In a press conference held yester in Erbil, the capital of northern Iraq, Suleiman called on the Council of Iraq’ Scholars and the Fiqh Council of senior religious scholars of Sunni everywhere, to stand with the territory and defend it against the attacks of the Islamic State.

The president added: “The Islamic State has changed its battle from fighting Al-Maliki’s army and its sectarian militia, to fighting the Kurdish region, which has become a shelter and safe haven for those who were displaced from the different rebellious provinces.”

He continued: “The military operations carried out by the Islamic State against the Kurdish region do, at the end, support the interests of Al-Maliki and his government as he seeks to reach a third term at the expense of the blood of the innocent Iraqis.

“Our Kurdish brothers are the only ones who have remained steadfast in their position, as they have always been, against Al-Maliki’s desperate attempts to get a third term. This proved to us that Iran is collaborating with the government of Baghdad for causing confusion in the Kurdistan region and to put pressure on its leadership to change its position towards Al-Maliki.”

Suleiman warned “anybody or any entity, whatever it is, against launching an attack on the territory or committing any violation on the territory. We will stand by our brothers, the Kurds, in the same boat, and will support them with all possible means in the face of those, in fulfilment of their noble position toward the Sunnis.”

The Islamic State (ISIS) imposed its control over the city of Mosul on June 10. Following this attack, ISIS also extended its activities to the provinces of Salahuddin, Kirkuk, Diyala and other areas of the country, which