The Intelligence Directorate of the Babil province, south of Baghdad, revealed on March 9, 2013, the arrest of a cell made up of 12 al-Qaeda affiliated members in the province. According to the directorate, the elements of the cell admitted to having received support from both Ali Hatem al-Suleiman — the emir of the al-Dalim tribes — and the former leader of the al-Sahwa forces in Iraq.

Al-Dalim is a large tribe in Iraq, mostly made up of Sunnis. It has its origins in the Anbar province, with the young Sunni leader Suleiman as its emir.  Suleiman has sparked controversy in Iraq’s Sunni circles because of his caustic positions toward Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government. He supported Maliki’s government from 2008 up until the 2010 elections, but then turned against it, accusing it of working for Iran. Suleiman is currently fiercely opposed to Maliki,  participating in the Sunni protests in the city of Ramadi (in Anbar province, west of Baghdad).

Ahmed Abu Risha is the former leader of the Sahwa Forces, which had fought al-Qaeda with the direct support and assistance of the U.S. Army since 2008. However, the conditions of Sahwa fighters deteriorated after the U.S. withdrew in 2011. Abu Risha subsequently accused the Maliki government of neglecting the Sahwa forces, not paying members’ salaries and not providing them with arms.

Brig. Gen. Riad Abdel Emir Kikhany, director of local intelligence in the Babil province, said in a statement: “The security forces arrested a cell comprising 12 al-Qaeda affiliated members in the province.”