Falluja demo to return police chief to office

ANBAR, Sept. 20 (Iraqi News) – A peaceful demonstration on Saturday took place in Anbar’s largest city of Falluja calling on the Iraqi government to return a police commander to his position in the province. “A peaceful demonstration was organized by Anbar tribes and Sahwa council leaders to urge the Iraqi government to return Maj. Gen. Tareq Youssuf to his post,” the chairman of the Anbar Salvation Council, Sheikh Hameed al-Hayes, who led the demonstration, told IraqiNews.com – Voices of Iraq – (Iraqi News). “The transfer decision was made in light of pressures from the provincial council,” Sheikh al-Hayes said, claiming that Youssuf has been transferred for “unknown political reasons.” Anbar was the 11th of Iraq’s 18 provinces to be returned to Iraqi control since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, lies 110 km west of Baghdad. Anbar is the largest province in Iraq geographically. Encompassing much of the country’s western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Anbar is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Arab. Anbar’s main cities are Falluja, the capital Ramadi, Haditha, Hit, Aana and Rutba. The name of the province translates “granaries,” as this region was the primary entrepôt on the western borders of Lakhmid Kingdom. The province was known as Dulaim until 1962 when it was changed to Ramadi. In 1976 it was renamed al-Anbar.   SS (S) 1