One of the most prominent Sunni nationalist groups in Iraq appears to have split in two, with at least one of these now engaged in an intensifying battle with the Al Qaeda-led Jihadists.

On March 9th a message from the 1920 Revolution Brigades was posted on a jihadi website declaring they were splitting into two separate corps - the al-Jihad al-Islami (Islamic Jihad) Corps and the al-Fatih al-Islami (Islamic Conquest) Corps. (via Jamestown Foundation)

The statement declared their designated areas of operation as:

al-Jihad al-Islami (Islamic Jihad) Corps: the northern sector, which includes Mosul, Kirkuk and Tikrit; sections of Baghdad; and Abu Ghraib.

al-Fatih al-Islami (Islamic Conquest) Corps: Diyala; sections of Baghdad; al-Fallujah; al-Ramadi; and the “western region.”

The statement also said that:

each corps must refrain from attempting to influence the other and must allow the other to carry out any new operation in any sector.

and that

agreement was reached to overcome any discord.

Discord not overcome:

A military leader of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, was killed Tuesday in an ambush west of Baghdad, the group said in an Internet statement.

Harith Dhaher al-Dhari died when gunmen fired rocket propelled grenades on his car in the Abu Ghraib district, according to a district official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.

The official said a passenger traveling with al-Dhari also was killed as well as another associate in a second car traveling behind. He blamed Al Qaeda in Iraq for the attack, but did not say how he arrived at that conclusion.

(note: this is contrary to the U.S. military saying that suicide car bombers attacked his house).

If he was killed in his car in the Abu Ghraib he is likely to have been from the Islamic Jihad Corps.

To put this ’split’ into perspective, the 1920 Revolution Brigade has been in negotiation with the Iraqi government for about a year about laying down their arms and joining the political process. Recently there have also been reports that they have been fighting against Al-Qaeda and have succeeded in driving Al-Qaeda forces out of the area around Abu Ghraib. Thus it makes sense that the Islamic Jihad Corps is being targetted by Al-Qaeda. Diyala province, which is in the area designated to the other faction, Islamic Conquest, on the other hand is currently a major Al Qaeda stronghold and will soon be the location of a major offensive operation against Al Qaeda by Coalition troops, apparently even bigger than the offensive against Fallujah in 2004. The Sunni city of Baqouba, which is located in Diyala is rumoured to be where Al Qaeda want to set up the capital of their Islamic state.

If there was indeed a split, it appears that at least the Islamic Jihad corps are fighting against Al-Qaeda, as they are the ones active in Abu Ghraib.

Back on February 20th al-Hayat reported that “al-Qaeda has waged a war of liquidation with the primary targets being the leaders of the 1920 Revolution Brigades and the Islamic Army”, because they refused to join Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

Al Qaeda seem to be stepping up this attack on this and other anti-Al-Qaeda Sunni factions - they have have also claimed responsibility for the suicide bomber attack on Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie last Friday. The attack wounded al-Zubaie, and killed 9 people. Coincidentally Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie and Harith Dhaher al-Dhari are both from the al-Zubaie tribe, but appear to belong to different factions. The Deputy Prime Minister is considered to be the “second-most-powerful Sunni official in the government, who hails from the Islamist-dominated Tawafoq Iraqi Front — the largest Sunni coalition, which controls 44 seats in parliament” (Stratfor), representing the mainstream Sunni community. Stratfor reports this is a sign that the mainstream Sunnis have turned against Al-Qaeda and their Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Qaeda is now trying to retaliate by assassinating leaders of moderate pro-government and nationalist Sunni factions that oppose them, which will only work to further turn the Sunni tide against Al Qaeda. Small but positives steps forward. Jules Crittenden reports on others.

NOTE: There seems to be some confusion as to which ‘Harith al-Dhari’ was killed in the above attack. One of the Harith Al-Dhari’s is Sheik Harith Sulayman al-Dhari, the head of the Association of Muslim Scholars, who actually supports Al-Qaeda. There is an arrest warrant out for him in Iraq and he is actually hiding out in Jordan. Following the attack mentioned above on the Deputy Prime Minister he issued a statement supporting the attack:

“It indicates a huge security failure and a success by the resistance,” al-Dhari told al-Jazeera television. “The bigger event here is that the resistance was able to deliver a message to all politicians telling them: ‘Don’t speak on our behalf.’”

However the Sheik Harith al-Dhari who is the head of the Association of Muslim Scholars and supports Al Qaeda is actually the cousin of the Sheik Harith Dhaher al-Dhari who was killed and who had recently joined the Anbar Salvation Council against Al-Qaeda in Iraq. (or uncle, according to this report). The pro-Al Qaeda Al-Dhari’s Association of Muslim Scholars actually issued a statement mourning the killing. Hmm. Not a “success by the resistance” then?