New dawn for Sunnis?

Both the US military in Iraq and Staffan de Mistura, the UN chief in Iraq, credit the emergence of Awakening Councils with playing a major part in the decline in violence nationwide over the past six months. Such groups, backed by the Americans, have also managed to expel Al-Qaeda from much of Anbar province, a largely desert area in western Iraq. The Awakening Councils are the first Sunni group to publicly turn against Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The Americans' new Sunni allies have increasingly been targeted by Al-Qaeda in Iraq, seeking to derail the movement that began in Anbar and has since spread to Baghdad and surrounding areas.

US forces quickly exploited the shift and began sponsoring similar movements in Baghdad and regions to the north and south. An estimated 80,000 members of the so- called Awakening Councils or Concerned Local Citizens are now fighting with, not against US and Iraqi forces.

Many of the new allies are on the American payroll, taking home minimal salaries while the US tries, with limited success, to persuade the Al-Maliki government to bring them into the army, police and a civilian corps of workers to rebuild the shattered country.

The US-funded groups have recently announced the formation of a political party, aimed at ensuring a strong Sunni presence in the Baghdad area ahead of crucial local elections. Abu Azzam Al-Tamimi, leader of the most influential Awakening Council near the capital, announced the formation of the Iraqi Karama (Dignity) Front last week, saying that the party "would fill the political gap in the country".

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