United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

On Friday, Beirut's Daily Star noted Al-Jazeera TV's Thursday announcement that "Six Iraqi insurgent groups" — the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Mujahedeen Army, Ansar al-Sunna-Religious Committee, the Fateheen Army, the Islamic Front for Iraqi Resistance, and the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in Iraq — "have joined forces to form a 'political council' and 'liberate' Iraq from U.S. occupation."[1] -- The Guardian reported that all are Sunni groups, and that the discussions that led to the announcement began months ago.[2] -- Ewen MacAskill said that "One of the biggest [Sunni] groups, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, had been involved in the discussions but pulled out. A spokesman for the brigades said it had not joined the alliance because it did not want to clash with those Sunni tribal groups working with the U.S. against al-Qaida. . . . He denied an Economist report that the 1920 Revolution Brigades was working with the Americans. On the contrary, the group continued to attack U.S. troops." -- U.S. media showed little interest in the news, with only wire service reports of the development available in the U.S. ...

Six Iraqi insurgent groups have joined forces to form a "political council" and "liberate" Iraq from U.S. occupation, Al-Jazeera television said on Thursday, as violence in the country killed at least seven people. A U.S. rights group announced Thursday it was filing a lawsuit against private security contractor Blackwater on behalf of a survivor and the families of three victims of a deadly September 16 shootout in Baghdad.

A spokesman for the "political council of the Iraqi resistance" was shown on Al-Jazeera with his face blacked out, announcing the formation of the coalition to liberate Iraq.

He said it comprises the four factions of a so-called "jihad and reform front" -- the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Mujahedeen Army, Ansar al-Sunna-Religious Committee, and the Fateheen Army. The two others that have joined are the Islamic Front for Iraqi Resistance and the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in Iraq, the spokesman said.

The spokesman announced a "political program to liberate Iraq," which declared that "resistance to occupation is a right granted by all laws . . . The armed resistance, joined by forces, groups, and figures that reject the occupation and its plans, is the legitimate representative of Iraq."

The Center for Constitutional Rights Thursday said the suit in a Washington federal court accuses Blackwater of murder and war crimes and seeks unspecified damages.

Filed by Talib Mutlaq Deewan and the estates of three men killed -- Himoud Saed Atban, Osama Fadhil Abbass, and Oday Ismail Ibrahim -- the suit claims Blackwater "created and fostered a culture of lawlessness among its employees, encouraging them to act in the company's financial interests at the expense of innocent human life," the center said in a statement.

"This senseless slaughter was only the latest incident in a lengthy pattern of egregious misconduct by Blackwater in Iraq," said lawyer Susan Burke. "At the moment of this incident, the Blackwater personnel responsible for the shooting were not protecting State Department officials. We allege that Blackwater personnel were not provoked, and that they had no legitimate reason to fire on civilians."

An Iraqi government report released Sunday said 17 people died in the shooting and 22 were wounded when Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians on September 16.

According to a congressional report, Blackwater has been implicated in nearly 200 shootouts in Iraq sice 2005, and its representatives were those who started shooting more than 80 percent of the time. It maintains its men were responding to an ambush while escorting a US State Department convoy.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has been tight-lipped on whether those involved in the killings would be handed over for prosecution.

In violence in Iraq, a suicide car bomber struck a busy market in the city of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing seven and wounding 50 people, most of them shoppers preparing for the Eid al-Fitr holiday that ends the holy month of Ramadan.

** Political umbrella group announced on al-Jazeera -- Statement pledges to continue resistance*nbsp;**

Six Iraqi insurgent groups took a step towards unifying the factions fighting the U.S. yesterday by announcing the creation of a political umbrella organisation.

A spokesman for the new alliance, his face blacked out, made the announcement on a video broadcast by al-Jazeera. He described the alliance as "the political council of the Iraqi resistance."

The six Sunni groups have been in discussion about the move for months. The aim is to reduce the fragmented nature of the insurgency but also to try to claim a slice of the political agenda after the expected U.S. withdrawal.

The talks about the alliance were disclosed by the *Guardian* in July. The groups had been close to making an announcement at that time but delayed because of disagreements over how to respond to the U.S. policy of doing deals with Iraqi tribal leaders.

In a lengthy statement published yesterday, the six groups listed a 14-point political program, of which the first was continued action against U.S. forces. "The occupation of Iraq is an act of aggression and an act of gross injustice which is rejected Islamically, legally, and rationally, and which all laws grant the right to oppose and resist," it said.

The six groups are opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq, which has been behind some of the most spectacular and bloodiest attacks, often on civilians, tactics that have alienated large swaths of the Iraq population. The main reason for the partial success of the U.S. deals with local leaders, initially in Anbar province, is hostility towards al-Qaida.

The six groups in the alliance are the Islamic Army in Iraq, the al-Mujahideen Army, Ansar al-Sunna, al-Fatiheen Army, the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Jami), and Iraqi Hamas.

One of the biggest groups, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, had been involved in the discussions but pulled out. A spokesman for the brigades said it had not joined the alliance because it did not want to clash with those Sunni tribal groups working with the U.S. against al-Qaida. "We will give time to people who have been harmed by al-Qaida and its violence," he told the *Guardian*. He denied an Economist report that the 1920 Revolution Brigades was working with the Americans. On the contrary, the group continued to attack US troops.

The new political alliance does not recognize the government led by Nuri al-Maliki. In its 14-point plan it says that all laws and treaties agreed under the occupation would be rescinded. The statement also claimed that the country would not be ruled by a "single element" that represented any ethnic or sectarian interest, presumably a reference to the Shia Muslim-dominated government.

One of the main features of the insurgency has been its fragmented nature, with diverse groups, large and small, operating largely independently.

Even with the new alliance there are still huge splits. Outside the alliance are not only al-Qaida and the 1920 Revolution Brigades but some Sunni groups. Also operating in Iraq are the Shia Muslim militia groups such as the Mahdi army, which has declared a six-month ceasefire, and the Badr brigades.