Iraqi insurgents split with Al Qaida over attacks on Iraqi civilians

There are growing signs that insurgents are breaking ranks with the foreign Al Qaida fighters in Iraq.

Iraqi armed insurgents in Ramadi recently posted leaflets and distributed flyers in mosques condemning the extremist tactics used by Al Qaida terrorists, according to Baghdad press reports.

"We have seen debate among groups whether they should or should not attack Iraqi civilians, because all these guys don't have the same objective," said a senior U.S. military official in Baghdad.

The Al-Sabah al-Jadid newspaper, quoting informed sources, said the leaflets distributed in Ramadi expressed opposition to extremists targeting Iraqi civilians.

The leaflets warned the foreign terrorists that further attacks on civilians would lead to revenge attacks against the foreign jihadists or that their identities and locations would be revealed to police.

After the leaflets appeared, the number of gruesome terrorist attacks, such as videotaped beheadings, had decreased and the Al Qaida terrorists have moved to more remote areas of the country.

The foreign terrorists have somewhat different goals than the Iraqi insurgents. The terrorists are seeking to create an Islamic state in Iraq and are waging holy war as part of a larger global campaign.

The Iraqi insurgents are seeking to restore the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein.

Iraq authorities are attempting to widen the growing split by offering amnesty to the insurgents in a bid to have them lay down their arms and join the political process.

The senior U.S. official played down the differences.

"We saw a similar argument going into Fallujah," the official said. "You had some of the radical side that argued we should kill them and behead them, or we should behead them as part of the process. You had others that said, hey, that's not a good thing to do," he said.

"From my perspective, whether a guy's going to kill me and then chop my head off, or just plain kill me, is sort of a moot. It's an interesting academic debate, maybe, but I mean they're just trying to kill you."

Many of the insurgents are not opposed to killing civilians, Iraqi security forces or coalition forces, the official said. The friction between the two camps is minor and may result in some lessened cooperation between "cells" conducting attacks.

The insurgents shifted attack targeting after terrorists were rooted out of Fallujah earlier this year. They now are focusing attacks on Iraqi security forces.

Most of the foreign terrorists in Iraq came from Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia and 22 other nations. Of the roughly 10,800 insurgent prisoners now being held, about 358 are non-Iraqis and many have been in the country for many years.