According to recent statements and postings on Internet forums used by Iraqi insurgent groups, The Islamic Army in Iraq had sought to turn popular opinion against Al-Qaeda and its umbrella group, the Islamic State of Iraq, at least since last September, during a series of meetings with influential Saudi clerics known for their not-so-covert backing of Iraqi insurgent groups. This revelation surfaced as the two groups have engaged in bitter fighting both on the streets of Baghdad and online over the last few days.

As part of these efforts, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Shammari, a leader and spokesman for the Islamic Army living in Damascus and a frequent guest on Al-Jazeera TV, visited Saudi Arabia months ago to meet with leading clerics from Riyadh and Qaseem under the guise of a conference to “support the Sunni community in Iraq,” but actually to discuss the state of jihad in Iraq and to solicit a fatwa against Al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to Al-Malaf Press. Some people present at the meeting, including Dr. Waleed Al-Rashoudi, a Saudi scholar who had criticized the Islamic State of Iraq, and the webmaster of the fundamentalist Islam Memo website, demanded a joint statement from the clerics declaring Al-Qaeda in Iraq as “out of the mainstream Sunni community.” A heated exchange reportedly followed, and the clerics, including those who disagreed with Al-Qaeda, refused to issue such a statement, arguing that it would result in further “bloodshed” and divisions among insurgent groups in Iraq, and also because Al-Qaeda was not represented at the meeting in order for a fatwa to be issued.

Notwithstanding this lack of clerical backing, The Islamic Army issued a widely publicized statement weeks ago criticizing the Al-Qaeda-led Islamic State of Iraq and accusing it of killing dozens of its members and alienating the Sunni community. The statement appealed to Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri to interfere and put an end to Al-Qaeda’s brutal tactics against other insurgent groups. This was around the same time the 1920 Revolution Brigades and the Zoba’ tribe clashed with Al-Qaeda militants west of Baghdad following a car bomb in Abu Ghraib that killed Harith Dhahir Al-Dhari, a field commander for the group, and the subsequent denunciation of Al-Qaeda by Harith Al-Dhari, secretary general of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, and the split in the Brigades that produced Hamas of Iraq. It also came after a series of car bomb attacks targeting Iraqi Sunni political leaders in the government – particularly those who have been accused of links to insurgent groups – and Sunni-funded TV and radio stations, and the formation in Ramadi of the Anbar Salvation Council, a tribal coalition that expelled Al-Qaeda from most parts of the governorate with U.S. support, owing largely to Al-Qaeda’s increasing unpopularity among Iraq’s Sunnis.

The Islamic State of Iraq, on its part, responded by pointing that other insurgent groups, hinting to the Islamic Army of Iraq, have received funding from the Saudi regime; have engaged in negotiations with Sunni political figures, whom Al-Qaeda regards as collaborators and infidels; and have toyed publicly with the idea of entering talks with the U.S. military to negotiate a possible timetable for withdrawal. The Islamic State of Iraq openly admits that its goal is not merely to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq, but to turn Iraq into a platform to export jihad to other Arab and Muslim countries. On the other hand, home-grown Iraqi insurgent groups – such as the Islamic Army, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, the Mujahideen Army, and the Rashideen Army, among others – have not expressed interest in regional expansion beyond Iraq, despite their professed adherence to an Islamic jihad ideology.

As a response to rising tensions with the Islamic State of Iraq, three rival insurgent groups – the Islamic Army, the Ansar Al-Sunnah and the Mujahideen Army – merged to create the Jihad and Reform Front last month, announcing in their first communiqué that they would not target innocent Iraqi civilians – a jab at the Islamic State of Iraq. A fourth group, the Fatiheen Army, also recently joined the front.

Last week's clashes which raged on for two days between Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Army in Amiriya, western Baghdad, may forever end the shaky alliance that the two groups have so far maintained against U.S. troops and the Iraqi government.

In a recorded statement posted on the Internet yesterday, Islamic Army spokesman Dr. Ali Al-Ni’aimi strongly rebuked Al-Qaeda and blamed it for initiating the fighting in Amiriya. A barrage of insults against the Islamic Army from Al-Qaeda sympathizers on the Internet followed the posting.

Here is the statement in full:

“The campaign waged by the Al-Qaeda Organization and its other known names against the Islamic Army in Iraq is not new; it started years ago when they killed four of our brothers and detonated their houses at Sadr Al-Yousifiya. They also killed over 40 other mujahideen from our group in Ramadi, Ishaqi, Taji, Haditha, Khalis, and other areas, not to mention the abductions, lootings, and the issuing of unjust verdicts against the members and leaders of the army.

We have responded to all of this with patience, restraint and tolerance, and we used all resources to clarify our position and to contact their leadership, but without avail. We have explained all of this in our official statements, including our well-known recent statement.

In the same regard, they have attacked members of the Sunni community, and engaged in killing them, excommunicating them, and targeting their areas and populated places. These acts and transgressions have turned Sunni cities and areas into ghost towns, and many who used to support and harbor the mujahideen have turned against them and resorted to other means, which have harmed the jihad and the mujahideen significantly. Many others have lost their confidence in the mujahideen’s protection and started to view them with fear, because of the extremism, obstinacy and injustice they have experienced from them, not to mention the policies of canceling the “other” and “if you are not with me, you are against me,” and condescending speeches, confiscation of rights, wrongdoings, and violation of religious teachings.

They concluded all of the above with a blatant attack against the Islamic Army, in the districts of Amiriya and Jami’a, which has been ongoing for several days. Al-Qaeda groups attacked members of the Islamic Army and kidnapped three of our brothers in Amiriya, after one of their members was killed while he was wiping some graffiti, which we had nothing to do with. Then they attacked the Miluki mosque with a hail of bullets, and used its loudspeakers to broadcast false allegations against the army in order to confuse members of the Sunni community. They also labeled some mosque imams in the area as infidels, and declared that members of the Islamic Army – who they named – were apostates. Our brother Abu Tiba was in the mosque, and they sprayed him with their treacherous bullets, notwithstanding the sanctity of a Muslim’s blood, the brotherhood of jihad, or the holiness of the mosque. Residents of the area have all attested to this.

After that, they assaulted our groupings in the same area; and our brothers responded to this aggression in self-defense. Around this time, Americans suddenly appeared in the area, but Al-Qaeda elements continued in their aggression, without targeting the Americans. They were moving in vehicles with their machine guns in the full view of Americans. Has attacking the army, instead of Americans, become their priority? Their assault also affected all members of the Sunni community in the area and its mosques. They killed two worshippers in the Tikriti mosque, even though they were unarmed and not members of any group. The mosque was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, sniper and medium arms fire, as if it was not enough what the Mahdi Army did to the mosques.

When the Americans imposed a curfew on Amiriya, Al-Qaeda moved its aggressions against the army to the nearby Jami’a district, where they have still been going on. The criminal, sectarian militias exploited this situation to concentrate their attacks against the Amil district, targeting members of the Sunni community without discrimination, and the clashes with residents over there are ongoing.

We are awaiting an explanation or justification for this coordinated assault in these areas against the army and the Sunni community, who are suffering from the most difficult and darkest circumstances. For the benefit of whom are mosques violated? For the benefit of whom are the mujahideen distracted from repelling the aggression of sectarian militias?

While we are bringing these tragedies to light, we wish to inform the ummah that our position on these developments is as following: - We will continue our jihad for the sake of God until we achieve the goals we have set upon ourselves: ending the American and Iranian occupations; standing firmly in the face of murderous, sectarian militias; and defending the blood, honor and property of the Sunni community. - We affirm that any aggression against any of our members will be considered an aggression against the entire army, and we maintain our legal right to respond to any aggression, whatever its excuse or justification. - We hold Abu Hamza Al-Masri and Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi responsible for the actions of their followers against the Sunni community and the mujahideen.”

Two days earlier, the Islamic Army had issued another statement on their website denying media speculations that the group would cooperate with Americans or negotiate with the Iraqi government. The statement said that, despite recent events, the group would continue to aim their weapons at “occupiers, their lackeys, and any group that targets innocents in all parts of Iraq, particularly Sunni parts, such as Amiriya.”