Muthana Harith al-Dhari: We do not accept the legitimacy of this government

The head of one of the most influential Sunni groups opposed to the US invasion of Iraq yesterday declared he would not co-operate with its new government until coalition forces left, and rejected any new offer of amnesty.

"We do not accept the legitimacy of this government because they are still under the control of the occupation," said Muthana Harith al-Dhari, head of the Association of Muslim Scholars. "We do not accept what they call the handing over of sovereignty."

His statement came as the government delayed the expected announcement of an amnesty for insurgents who laid down their arms, amid what officials described as difficult discussions on how to balance inclusiveness with strength.

Mr al-Dhari, who insisted he did not help the resistance but is thought to wield considerable influence, told the FT the government did not have the legitimacy to pass such a law "because they are under occupation".

An Iraqi official suggested this kind of position had raised questions over whether the offer would have any practical effect. One view suggested that an amnesty would be a sign of weakness and encourage more attacks.

A day after a suicide attack at the entrance to central Baghdad’s Green Zone, there were reports of another car bomb near the main police station in Haditha, 200km north-west of Baghdad, killing 10 people and wounding 40.

An Iraqi militant group holding a Filipino hostage said yesterday it would free him only after Manila withdrew the last of its soldiers by the end of this month, a statement broadcast by al-Jazeera television said.

Speaking from the "Mother of All Battles" mosque in Baghdad, Mr al- Dhari said he did not reject everything: he was willing to co-operate with projects that helped ordinary Iraqis.

But he thought the recent public safety law was counter-productive, and said he would neither take part in Iraq’s national conference, scheduled for this month, nor national elections, due by the end of January, unless the foreign forces left. On the other hand, "we will not prevent others from participating: that is their choice," he said.

Mr al-Dhari’s statements highlight the challenges facing Iyad Allawi, prime minister, in trying to convince the mainstream resistance to lay down arms and isolate the hardline insurgents.

Despite uncompromising utttterances Mr Allawi’s government has adopted a carrot-and-stick approach. Tough actions, including use of the new public safety law, are designed to fight criminals and mafia gangs as well as extremist Islamists who are working with foreign fighters from the al-Qaeda network. But much of the government’s political focus has been on the larger group of disaffected Iraqis, including former Ba’athists, who form the popular core of the resistance. "They are patriots objecting to occupation," says one official. "And they feel left out."

The government blames foreign fighters for many of the attacks on Iraqi targets and this has helped to convince Iraqis that they are besieged by al-Qaeda. Some local guerrillas have been keen to distance themselves from the foreign militants: one group calling itself the Salvation movement is said to have videotaped threats against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the presumed leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

But whether government moves will have a significant impact on the domestic insurgency, particularly in the so-called Sunni triangle, depends on its ability to convince people like Mr al-Dhari to be more co-operative.

The government is also using its financial resources to extend control over troubled areas. It has negotiated a deal to merge into Iraq’s security forces the Falluja Brigade, a group led by generals of the old army that was given control over Falluja when the US failed to tame the city west of Baghdad. The government will pay salaries and a compensation package to scores of families made homeless by the US bombings in April.

But as the government tries to bring one trouble spot more closely under control another one erupts. Over the past week, for example, rebels and looters in Samarra, another Sunni Arab stronghold, were said to have overrun a US compound recently turned over to the Iraqi National Guard. It was unclear whether US forces remained in control.

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