Forty senior commanders have left the Al-Sahwa (Awakening) Council, in protest over the announcement by Al-Sahwa president Sheikh Ahmad Abu Risha that he had signed a pact with the Islamic Party in Al-Anbar in advance of the January 2009 regional council elections.
Al-Sahwa is the tribal military organization in Iraq's Al-Anbar province established in 2006 to fight Al-Qaeda, which at that time controlled the province.
The commanders said that Abu Risha had acted without consulting with them, and that his act did not serve Al-Sahwa.
Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, November 17, 2008
