Sheiks Meet, Discuss Progress

BAGHDAD – More than 60 sheiks from the Al-Rashid District held a meeting at the District Council Hall here Wednesday.

Sheik Faisel Karem Jabour Al-Saadi, the Al-Rashid District Council Sheik Council Chairman and Sabeeh Al-Ka’abi, the District Council Chairman, called a meeting to discuss sectarian violence, the progress of essential services and security issues.

The sheiks were asked to take the lead in their own security, said U.S. Army Col. Ricky D. Gibbs, commander of 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, who was requested to speak at the meeting.

Gibbs highlighted the gains made in the al-Anbar and Diyala provinces, against al-Qaeda and other terrorists, by Iraqis working in conjunction with Coalition forces.

“The people in Al-Anbar, Diyala and other areas of Baghdad are showing their courage by standing up to terrorists and improving stability of their provinces,” Gibbs said. “Together, you can do this.”

After asking how the 4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div. could assist, Gibbs told the sheiks he couldn’t stop the violence without the influence the sheiks have over their tribes.

(PHOTO: U.S. Army Col. Ricky D. Gibbs, commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, speaks to more than 60 sheiks at the founding conference of sheiks in the Al-Rashid District Wednesday at the Rashid DAC Hall in southwestern Baghdad. The conference was the first step in the process of bringing sheiks into the security and reconstruction process. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons, 4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs.)

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