ist.
Several observers remarked to us that Sadr was following the model of
Hezbollah in Lebanon: building a political party that controls basic
services within the government and an armed militia outside of the
government.

Sunni Arabs feel displaced because of the loss of their traditional
position of power in Iraq. They are torn, unsure whether to seek their
aims through political participation or through violent insurgency.
They remain angry about U.S. decisions to dissolve Iraqi security
forces and to pursue the "de-Baathification" of Iraq's government and
society. Sunnis are confronted by paradoxes: they have opposed the
presence of U.S. forces in Iraq but need those forces to protect them
against Shia militias; they chafe at being governed by a majority Shia
administration but reject a federal, decentralized Iraq and do not see
a Sunni autonomous region as feasible for themselves.

Hashimi and Dhari

The influence of Sunni Arab politicians in the government is
questionable. The leadership of the Sunni Arab insurgency is murky,
but the following two key Sunni Arab figures have broad support.

tariq al-hashimi: Hashimi is one of two vice presidents of Iraq and
the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni Muslim bloc in
parliament. Hashimi opposes the formation of autonomous regions and
has advocated the distribution of oil revenues based on population, a
reversal of de-Baathification, and the removal of Shiite militia
fighters from the Iraqi security forces. Shiite death squads have
recently killed three of his siblings.

sheik harith al-dhari: Dhari is the head of the Muslim Scholars
Association, the most influential Sunni organization in Iraq. Dhari
has condemned the American occupation and spoken out against the Iraqi
government. His organization has ties both to the Sunni Arab
insurgency and to Sunnis within the Iraqi government. A warrant was
recently issued for his arrest for inciting violence and terrorism, an
act that sparked bitter Sunni protests across Iraq.

Iraqi Kurds have succeeded in presenting a united front of two main
political blocs--the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The Kurds have secured a largely
autonomous Kurdish region in the north, and have achieved a prominent
role for Kurds within the national government. Barzani leads the
Kurdish regional government, and Talabani is president of Iraq.

Leading Kurdish politicians t