Interview With Sheikh Ali Hatem Al Sleiman (Updated)

Following are excerpts from an interview with Sheikh Ali Hatem Ali Sleiman of the Al-Anbar Salvation Council, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on September 24, 2007.

Ali Hatem Ali Seliman: We must distinguish between the noble and courageous resistance and those reckless, filthy people, who have come here – each with hair down to his knees. Brother, we must distinguish between black and white. In Iraq, the word "resistance" has become derogatory, because of the confusion in terms. It's best to speak out so that everybody in Iraq knows: The Al-Anbar Salvation Council, the Al-Anbar tribes and their military wing, and all the good people of Al-Anbar have never brandished their weapons against any patriot fighting the occupation. By Allah, this has never happened. We have used our weapons only against those extremist, filthy people, who have created this confusion, and made the world view us with contempt. Our role is to deal a blow to Al-Qaeda and the militias, wherever they may be. The militias, by the way, also play a role in Iraq, when it comes to the displacement of people and mass murder.
[...]
Ali Hatem Ali Seliman: Let the American president know that when the heroes of the Iraq tribes... Neither he nor Rice – that sheep who drove our people out of their homes – nor anybody else will be able to enter Al-Anbar, when the people of Al-Anbar get the province and all of Iraq on their feet.
[...]
Ali Hatem Ali Seliman: [The Americans say]: "Our forces liberated Al-Anbar." What, your forces liberated Al-Anbar?! With all due respect, that is disgraceful. What, your forces are capable of liberating Al-Anbar? Your forces got into trouble, just like us. The American army got into several problems: It should be in charge of traffic, it should be in charge of building, whatever. We all got into trouble because of the democracy of the "effendi" Bush. [Bush] was not welcome in Al-Anbar. No one knew he was coming for a visit. It does not honor us in any way to host someone like that. We have nothing to do with him. Politically, we have people who represent us on the Al-Anbar Awakening Council and the Al-Anbar Salvation Council. Let them reach understandings with [the Americans]. We have nothing to do with any politician – not the president and not politicians of lower rank.
[...]
Ali Hatem Ali Seliman: By Allah, shame on people who say that the Al-Qaeda members are Iraqis. Them, Iraqis? Who attacked us? Weren't we attacked from Dhahran and the other Saudi airfields? Weren't we attacked by American missiles and planes which came from Arab countries? Those despicable people should be ashamed of themselves. All they have learned is to say meaningless things. They should stop exporting their Salafis... Not Salifis, I mean those extremists, who were sent to Iraq to wage Jihad. Let them wage Jihad in their own countries. Syria is occupied by Israel, and the Arab countries are occupied by American and foreign bases.
[...]
Ali Hatem Ali Seliman: Listen, my friend, let me tell you one thing. I swear by God that whoever sets a foot on Iraqi soil and dares to insult us and our honor – we will wipe the floor with him, get it?
[...]
Interviewer: Sheik, from where do you get all your aid, money, and weapons?
Ali Hatem Ali Seliman: Oh, do me a favor! The Saudis know all about the weapons we have. Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Jordan have complained about [weapon] smuggling. In the days of Saddam, even helicopters were smuggled. Four-barrel and single-barrel missile launchers, mortar, rockets, PKCs – we tribes have all that. Brother, we don't have to beg anyone for these weapons. As for finances, what has the Iraqi government ever given us? I challenge anybody who says that I took a single dirham. Some time ago, on Al-Arabiya TV, or perhaps it was your channel, that black woman from the American embassy said that they were allocating 26 billion dollars to support the tribes. I don't want their billions, and we didn't get a single dirham from them.

The link to the whole interview is here (Arabic)

I watched Sheikh Ali on a number of occasions and on different Arab channels. His concept is simple: the unity of Iraq, purging Al Qaeda elements from other Iraqi provinces, but this is new, by confirming that "the Awakenning" of Al Anbar province was independent from any US support, or let me say, it is the first time I hear / read Sheikh Ali mentioning the issue of US support in that context.

Update: below is another video interview with Al Jazeera

Football Match

I am not a big fan of football (soccer for those who mix it up with American football), but this match is unique! Supporters are not that much; there are some but a lot left the stadium looking for more interesting things to do! The remaining supporters can be sighted easily, because they shattered sitting here and there among the empty seats. Some of them are focused on the game beneath; others show emotions from sadness to despise, because of the foul play and the very obvious cheating among players. One can easily observe that no single honesty in that match. The first team consists of players from different countries: there is the Iranian player who wants to score at any cost, taking advantage of having his Iraqi co-player on different positions on the fields to pass the ball to him so he can get deeper in and score; the Iraqi player, though, has no chance of either to keep the ball or to score – they must pass the ball only to the other players; There is also the American player! like a bulldozer, run heavily and aggressively, always want to keep the ball to himself, never want to pass the ball to anyone, not even to his British (who play left and right wing) or European players! There are other players in that team but with a less tempo, such as the Turkish player, but when time comes (according to their evaluation it seems) they display fantastic energy and effort! This team does not show some harmony among its players, there is some feud, such as the player with a beard who seems to have a problem with his American co-player! They are both playing in the same team, but they don’t like each other… It happens, you know. There are other players from different backgrounds and countries playing in this team, but I thought it's worth it mentioning the toughest among them.

It is a tough game, the team is fully prepared, they had training, best equipments and facilities to ensure they are fit and have victory.

But wait, what about the other team? Yes, they are doing great, they are trying their best compare it to the humble training and facilities. They can be easily recognized, because each one of them is wearing a three striped colors T-Shirt: red on top, white, and black! When they stood next to each other before the start of the game, they formed the Iraqi flag. The interesting thing is that each Iraqi player is originally from different cities and villages' allover Iraq. They also come from entirely different ethnic, social and religious backgrounds! Despite that, they illustrated most amazing harmony during their play.

The more the Iraqi team defends his goal, the more the other team becomes more aggressive, and as I mentioned earlier, many foul plays took place but the referee seems to be in a different reality. He just whistles and warns players not to do this or that, but no red cards, not even a yellow card.

The match goes on and on and honestly there were some Iraqi scores that made the public sitting at the benches jump and dance with happiness, but they were very little! Some of the Iraqi team supporters were carrying crosses, others carrying their holy books and praying, many others just watch with tears mudding their eyes, shouting endlessly with tired voices words of encouragement, all hoping that the Iraqi team will come out victorious.

Don't Bomb Us - A blog by Al Jazeera Staffers

I might be a little bit late in finding this, but it is interesting to know that some employees from Al Jazeera network are blogging.

The link is above, and can also be found here

I am not doing some kind of a propoganda here, I just thought the blog worth some reading.