Sheik Led Sunni Fight Against Al-Qaida

President Bush, center left, shakes hands with Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, an Iraqi tribal leader, during a meeting with tribal leaders at Al-Asad Airbase in Anbar province, Iraq, Monday, Sept. 3, 2007. The most prominent figure in a revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Risha was killed Thursday Sept. 13, 2007, in an explosion near his home in Anbar province, Iraqi police said. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

BAGHDAD -- Visitors often streamed in and out of Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha's walled compound in Ramadi, where he had several villas and a stock of camels just across the street from the city's largest American base.

Smoking profusely, Abu Risha _ sporting a pistol at his waist _ would take endless calls on his cell phone. Lines of people waited to see the clan leader, including locals, tribal sheiks and Americans. He had near-daily meetings with American military officers.

The demand was a sign of the young sheik's swift rise to become the lynchpin of the American strategy of turning Iraq's Sunni tribes against al-Qaida. But his position also brought him enemies: Al-Qaida in Iraq tried repeatedly to kill him, and some Sunnis saw him as an opportunist who took U.S. cash to build himself up.

His importance to the U.S. was made clear by a Sept. 3 meeting with President Bush. On a surprise visit to Anbar province, Bush posed for photos with Abu Risha, who cut the figure of an Arab prince, with an immaculate gold-rimmed robe and a meticulously groomed goatee and a heavy mustache.

Ten days later, Abu Risha _ in his late 30s _ was killed along with two bodyguards by a roadside bomb near his compound. His death may prove a setback to American success in Anbar, once a stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency and now cited as a model for the rest of Iraq.

A year ago, Abu Risha launched his campaign to rally other tribes behind him to fight al-Qaida militants. The fight was personal: 10 of his relatives, including four of his brothers, were killed by al-Qaida for dealing with the U.S. military.

Desperate for a success story in an increasingly unpopular war, the U.S. military embraced Abu Risha. Iraq's government grudgingly followed suit, despite its fear of boosting another armed group that could turn against it. The result was a dramatic decrease in violence in Anbar.

"A year ago the province was assessed 'lost' politically," Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a congressional hearing Monday. "Today, it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al-Qaida and reject its Taliban-like ideology."

After Abu Risha's meeting with Bush, the government quickly allocated an additional $70 million to Anbar's budget. Some areas of the province receive as much as 20 hours of electricity daily compared to only 2 in most of Baghdad.

Abu Risha was eager to spread the fight against al-Qaida to other parts of the country.

"We have worked with all the tribes of the south," he said in a recent interview with Al-Jazeera English, aired Sunday. "I have worked with all Iraqi tribes and they are all under my leadership."

Abu Risha belonged to a small clan of the Dulaimi tribe, Anbar's largest, and was one of a number of young leaders who rose up as Sunni tribal elders fled or were killed in the province. He ran a construction and import-export family business with offices in Jordan and Dubai.