Iraq Sunni anti-Qaeda leader eyes Shi'ite alliance

By Mohammed Abbas

RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - A senior leader in a Sunni Arab movement founded to combat al Qaeda in Iraq is edging away from the military activity of the past, toward a once unthinkable alliance with the country's Shi'ite prime minister.

Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha is head of the Awakening Conference, a political party born out of an armed movement that uprooted al Qaeda and other militants from Anbar province in western Iraq, once the deadliest place for U.S. forces in Iraq.

Abu Risha's renunciation of armed struggle and steps toward working with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki could be a landmark in new political cooperation between Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis after years of bloodshed.

"The prime minister's initiatives have been positive," said Abu Risha, who is considering an alliance with Maliki's State of Law coalition, which like the Awakening Conference made major gains in provincial elections in January.

Such an alliance before parliamentary polls in December could add momentum to nationalist political sentiment in Iraq, which helped propel Maliki to victory over religious groups.

"If we want a unified Iraq, we must work in that direction, on unifying Sunnis and Shi'ites to build one country," he said.

The sheikh, dressed in Arab head dress, robe and aviator sunglasses, fired a rifle into the air with one hand to herald his party's confirmation as head of a new coalition dominating Anbar's provincial council.

Abu Risha inherited the movement from his late brother, Sheikh Abdul Sattar, who from 2006 onwards rallied thousands of Sunni Arab supporters to take up arms against al Qaeda in Anbar.