Sunni rivals clash over elections in Anbar – paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Local tribes say Saturday’s elections, which the ruling party appears to be winning, were a sham. They’ve threatened a return to violence in the region, which had become a model of stability in Iraq, Los Angeles Times newspaper said on Thursday. “With preliminary polling results scheduled for release as early as today, tribes of the Anbar Awakening and other clans that helped U.S. forces crush the insurgency here have charged that Saturday’s elections were a sham. The tribes contend that they were double-crossed by the region’s government and suggest that violence will return to Anbar if their rivals continue to hold power,” it said. “At best, the dispute is pure political theater and will end with the rivals sharing power. At worst, the struggle will spark a new cycle of bloodshed,” it also said. “An honest dictatorship is better than a fake democracy,” said Sheik Ahmed Buzaigh abu Risha, leader of the Anbar Awakening trib 1