Anbar province calls for support to fight Islamic State
The government in Anbar province is voicing concern about the progress of the Islamic State in several cities, calling for a quick solution to prevent the province from falling to the militants.
BAGHDAD — On Oct. 18, a delegation from the local government in Anbar province went to the Shiite province of Najaf to visit cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, under a media blackout. The Shiite cleric did not issue any statement regarding the visit, while the local Anbar government merely gave a standard acknowledgment of the event.
According to two members of the Anbar provincial council interviewed by Al-Monitor, the visit was the result of a coincidence; a delegation of the local Anbar government was supposed to meet Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani, but events during the month of Muharram (the first month of the Islamic calendar) delayed the meeting.
Council member Athal al-Fahdawi said, “Iraqi parliament member Hakem al-Zalami and Baghdad mayor Ali al-Tamimi organized the meeting with Sadr for us.”
It seemed strange for the delegation to visit the Sadrist movement’s leader, considering that Sadr does not have sway in the government to help Anbar, which has lost about 80% of its territory to the Islamic State (IS) and where several cities are threatened.
