Tribal leader: We hope Al-Abadi restores Sunni rights in Iraq

A leader in what is known as the “Iraqi Tribal Rebels” said yesterday that they hope that elected Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi would restore the rights of the Sunnis in the country.

In an interview with the Anadolu news agency, the leader of the tribal rebels in Al-Anbar province, Abdul Razzaq Al-Shammari, said: “We congratulate the Iraqi people, with their different sects, on this giant step, which had taken the nightmare away from the people, and we all hope that the new Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi will take another step towards our Sunni component.”

“We hope that Al-Abadi will restore the usurped rights of the Sunnis, who were the only victims of Al-Maliki’s injustice, throughout his unjust rule of Iraq,” Al-Shammari added.

“Tribal rebels” is a term used to name the sons of the Iraqi Sunni tribes who had organised sit-ins to protest against the policies of Al-Maliki’s government last year. They accused him of practicing “exclusionary and marginalising policies” against their sect through his leadership of the Iraqi government.

On Monday, Iraqi President Fuad Masum assigned Haider Al-Abadi, an MP of the National Alliance, to form a new government to succeed Al-Malki, who considered this act a “violation of the constitution”.

On the other hand, dozens took the streets, this morning, protesting in front of the headquarters of Al-Anbar province in demand of returning back to their homes from which they were displaced due to the military operations in both areas of Al-Haouz and Al-Mo’alemein neighbourhood in the downtown of el-Ramadi (the centre of the governorate), according to Anadolu reporter and eye-witnesses.

According to the correspondent of Anadolu, the demonstrators chanted slogans demanding to stop the military operations in the whole city of Ramadi, and to return the displaced families back to their homes.

Different parts of the city of Ramadi are witnessing sporadic clashes between elements of the Islamic state and the Iraqi security forces for months now.

On June 10, the Islamic state organization supported by Sunni anti- al-Maliki government militant groups, began a massive attack on large areas of northern and eastern Iraq, which led to their control over several towns and villages, most notably al-Mosul, Tikrit and Kerkos, the largest Christian city in the country, before the United States announced launching its air strikes on the organization’s targets to “protect the minorities and the American interests.”