Bomb Kills a Key Sunni Ally of U.S.

The result of his efforts was the council, created Sept. 14, 2006, which eventually brought together 42 tribes. While the group was strained by internal divisions and rivalries, it succeeded in recruiting legions of young men into the Iraqi security forces to guard their cities and villages.

"It began an avalanche of Iraqis joining the police and the army in the latter part of 2006, and it really took off in February and March 2007," Allen said. "We went from 4,500 police a year ago to 21,000 police now."

The Anbar council recently began winning more support from the central government. On Sept. 6, several top Iraqi officials traveled to Anbar to pledge to work across the sectarian divide. They delivered $70 million for rapid economic reconstruction and $50 million in compensation for destroyed housing. Hiring approval was granted for 6,000 new civilian jobs. The officials promised to reopen an oil refinery, accelerate an electricity plant and create two free-trade zones on Anbar's borders with Jordan and Syria.

"Anbar was a lost cause a year ago. The fact that the senior leadership went to Anbar, talked about more money and met with the tribal sheiks, which was broadcast on TV, is a major success story," said Salih, the deputy prime minister. However, he added: "It's still at its infancy and it needs to be nurtured."

The steep drop in violence in Anbar has been unmatched anywhere else in Iraq, but the turnaround has become the model for Sunni enclaves in Diyala province, western Baghdad and south of the capital. At the same time, the recruitment of Sunni residents, many of them former insurgents hostile to the Iraqi security forces, has alarmed some Shiite officials in the central government.

At the forefront of this controversial movement, Abu Risha was a marked man. In a video recently discovered by the U.S. military after a battle in Ramadi, insurgents threatened Abu Risha and called him the "dog of Anbar." During a January meeting at his residence -- a compound also populated by camels and sheep, and across the street from a U.S. military base -- he barely paused his sermon of success when a rocket slammed down outside the gate.

"We had talked to Abu Risha extensively about being careful in light of the many threats against his life," said Col. John Charlton, the U.S. commander in Ramadi. "He had recently obtained two armored cars and had a very large security detail. Unfortunately, he was not in one of these cars when the attack occurred."

The Interior Ministry dispatched a National Police brigade to Anbar province as reinforcements in case of an outbreak of further violence, said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a spokesman. A delegation from the ministry planned to travel to Anbar to investigate the killing.

"And we will be building a great statue for Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha at the entrance of Anbar province, so it will be a witness to his great accomplishments for the people of Iraq," Khalaf said.

Tyson and Wright reported from Washington. Staff writer Megan Greenwell and special correspondent Naseer Nouri in Baghdad and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.