US Bribing Tribal Leaders in Western Iraq

"Hood is trying to change the opinion of a number of tribal leaders in Ameriyeh district of al-Fallujah in his visits to the region and is bribing them to guarantee an agreement with the US forces' continued deployment in the region," Mahdi Taqi was quoted by the Arabic-language al-Ma'aloumeh news website on Monday.

He urged the Iraqi foreign ministry to take a strict position against the move, and warned that the US embassy in Baghdad is supporting and sponsoring certain groups in pursuit of destructive goals in Iraq.

Taqi described Hood's measures as a violation of international laws and Iraq's sovereignty.

Commander of Popular Forces in Ameriyeh region in al-Anbar Salah al-Issawi revealed on Sunday that Hood has visited the region in Southern Fallujah.

In a relevant report in March, Iraqi sources said that the US forces deployed in the country were forcing tribal leaders who had been fighting for ISIL to spy on Hashd al-Shaabi (popular forces) in al-Anbar province in Western Iraq.

Al-Ma'aloumeh quoted a high-ranking source in al-Anbar as saying that the US forces stationed in the region had restarted espionage operations to collect intelligence from a number of Hashd al-Shaabi commanders in al-Anbar and their bases in the region.

He added that the US military men forced a number of Iraqi tribal leaders who had earlier joined the ISIL either to surrender to the security forces or work for the Americans as secret spies.

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