SUNNI leaders in al-Anbar province, long a bastion of resistance to the American presence in Iraq, are urging the American military to arm tribes against al-Qaeda, which is viewed as the most powerful force in the area.

They believe that this is now the best way to bring peace to the province that includes the violence-plagued cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

Resentment of al-Qaeda militants among tribes and other insurgent groups has erupted into violence periodically since spring 2005. Over the past year the anger has led to a permanent rift and constant fighting in the western province that borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. “There is a struggle between people of al-Anbar province and some of the [militant] organisations working there, but the Americans are not taking seriously the people’s efforts to make peace,” said Ayad al-Samarrai, the No 2 official in the Islamic Party, the largest Iraqi Sunni party.

“When the Americans attack an area, they disarm the locals and keep them weak but the terrorists have already fled. When the Americans leave, the terrorists return and the people do not have any weapons to protect themselves.”

Mr Samarrai said that leaders from al-Anbar had made several proposals to the Americans, including arming the tribes to fight al-Qaeda, providing teams of bodyguards for tribal leaders, clerics and politicians who opposed al-Qaeda and making an intense recruitment push to build an indigenous army and police force.

Mr Samarrai predicted that extremist groups such as al-Qaeda would be defeated in a few months if the Americans acted on any of the al-Anbar proposals. Many leaders in al-Anbar believed that the Americans wanted the chaos to continue and were deliberately helping al-Qaeda, he said.

The Sunni politician described the battle lines in Anbar province as a free-for-all, where Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters — once united against the Americans — slugged it out.

“What we know is there is now a fight between some tribal leaders and al-Qaeda, and some resistance groups and al-Qaeda, while other groups have decided to side with al-Qaeda,” he said.

In Ramadi last week two al-Qaeda fighters were found in the street shot dead. The killings were claimed by a group calling itself the Anbar Revolutionaries. In turn, al-Qaeda killed a rebel sniper in the city.

A resident of Hit, a Sunni town west of Ramadi, gave a general account of life in the province that matched Mr Samarrai’s. He told The Times that the general population had turned against al-Qaeda but was too weak to drive the militants out.

“Al-Qaeda has assassinated too many people,” said the man, who did not want to be named. “If the resistance received support from the Government they could defeat al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda kills anyone who does not obey them. Most of them are criminal and known bad people.”

In the town of Rutba, near the Jordanian border, local people actually welcomed the US military’s decision in spring to wall off the city because it freed them from al-Qaeda, according to one former resistance fighter.

“Al-Qaeda controlled Rutba, but we discovered they fought and killed more Iraqis than they did Americans,” he said. “The Americans have blocked off Rutba but now the people feel better because al-Qaeda cannot enter.”

A secret US military intelligence report, leaked to American newspapers this week, said that the Americans had most likely lost the battle for the hearts and minds in the province.

The assessment, written by Marine Colonel Pete Devlin, noted that government institutions in al-Anbar were nonexistent and that al-Qaeda had become dominant. Major General Richard Zilmer, the commanding US officer in al-Anbar, defended the Marines’ record in the region.

The assessment pointed to only two areas in al-Anbar that showed signs of progress. They were the town of Qaim, near the Syrian border, and Fallujah, which the Americans seized from insurgents in a huge battle in November 2004. Even in Fallujah locals painted a bleak picture to The Times of their community having once more fallen in the grip of radical Islamists with links to al-Qaeda.

“The Mujahidin [Islamic warriors] control Fallujah from the shadows. The people are frightened,” a local doctor said.

The gunmen have enforced their own version of Islamic law, banning alcohol and Western music and requiring women to wear veils on the street, he added.

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