From: Ad 

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=20580

Iraqi nationalism starts to reassert itself in the Sunni
community...(now...if it will do likewise in the Shia community...)

" This week's killing of Al-Qaeda in Iraq's "information
minister" is the latest blow to the group's bid to retain leadership
of the Sunni revolt and face down a challenge from rival insurgents.

While the radical group is under siege by a stepped up US military
campaign, Al-Qaeda's foreign leadership is facing increasing opposition
from more nationalist Iraqi insurgent rivals opposed to their tactics.

The US military said on Thursday that its forces killed Al-Qaeda in Iraq's
"senior information minister," identified as Muharib Abdul Latif
al-Juburi, early Tuesday just north of Baghdad.

Potentially more damaging than the killing of Muharib Abdel Latif was the
announcement that three Iraqi insurgent groups had joined forces in an
explicit challenge to Al-Qaeda's umbrella group, the Islamic State in Iraq.

"In order to confront local, regional, and international challenges,
an agreement has been concluded between three groups, the Islamic Army in
Iraq, the Army of the Mujahideen, and the Ansar al-Sunna to form a united
front," the group said in a statement posted on a jihadi website.

Many experts believe the announcement of a new alliance between Ansar
al-Sunna and the Islamic Army points to a deepening rivalry among Islamists
in the Sunni insurgency and a serious challenge to Al-Qaeda's Iraqi
franchise.

This new front "is no friend of America, or of democracy in Iraq --
but, should it succeed, it will present an existential political threat to
the future of Al-Qaeda in Iraq," said Evan Kohlmann, an expert on
jihadi movements."


& for some bizarre reason the US has started to become realistic about
the Levantine problem:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/855602.html

"Senior officials fear a confrontation with Washington over a document
of benchmarks it has presented to Israel and the Palestinian Authority
setting a detailed timetable for measures each side must implement.

The document sets a schedule for removing roadblocks and opening passages
in the territories and upgrading the Palestinian forces loyal to PA
chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Israel is also urged to approve requests for
weapons, munitions and equipment required by defense forces loyal to Abbas.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to arrive on May 15 to discuss
implementing the plan.

Officials in the defense establishment object to several issues in the
document, especially the demand to expand the operation of the passages in
the Gaza Strip and the removal of many roadblocks in the West Bank. "


"The document, which Haaretz has obtained, sets a rigid timetable for
implementing measures on either side.

The document was written by the U.S. security coordinator, Major General
Keith Dayton, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dick Jones and U.S. Consul-General
in Jerusalem Jacob Walles.

It was sent to Washington, where it was approved by Secretary of State Rice
before it was presented to Israel and the PA. However, both Israel and the
PA's official answer to the document is still pending."

"Each clause is accompanied by a precise timetable for implementation.
For example, Israel and the PA are required to establish, no later than
July 1, 2007, a bus convoy service operating five days a week between the
Erez checkpoint at the entrance to the Gaza Strip and the Tarqumiya
roadblock at the entrance to Hebron for passengers from Gaza and the West
Bank.

Israel is required to remove specific roadblocks and other traffic and
movement restrictions in the West Bank at specified dates. For example,
Israel must remove restrictions and provide access no later than June 1,
2007 in the Bethlehem 1 and 2 clusters, in the Hebron clusters 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7 and 8, in Nablus clusters 1, 2, 3 and 4 and in the Tubas 1 cluster.

It must remove roadblocks in the Nablus area and specifically the ones in
Beit Iba, Hawara, Awarta, Shavei Shmoron and Beit Foriq no later than June
15.

However, the timetable in the document is not entirely relevant as the
measures in it were scheduled to begin on May 1.

Rice agreed on formulating the document during her last visit in Israel and
the PA. The Palestinians received the document last Wednesday, April 25.
Senior Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the PA accepts its principles,
although the PA has not given Washington an official answer yet.

The PA and mainly its defense forces and national security adviser Mohammed
Dahlan are required to take a series of clear steps, limited by a
timetable.

Dahlan is required to develop a plan against Qassam rockets with the
support of PA President Abbas no later than June 21, 2007. The president
must deploy these forces no later than that date.

The Palestinian forces are required to act to prevent arms smuggling in the
Rafah area in coordination with Israel."

OK a few years late but....the dictum of Churchill wrt the US still applies
i.e. about it doing the right thing once it has exhausted all the
alternatives....

Adam

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