Insurgents Form Their Own Iraq Government

A coalition of eight Sunni insurgent groups has announced the formation of a cabinet, naming the head of al-Qaida in Iraq the minister of war. The announcement from the “Islamic State of Iraq” was made hours after the group released a video showing the executions of 20 people who were Iraqi civilians, Iraqi soldiers or policemen.

AP via Yahoo!:

CAIRO, Egypt - A Sunni insurgent coalition posted Web videos on Thursday naming the head of al-Qaida in Iraq as “minister of war” and showing the execution of 20 men it said were members of the Iraqi military and security forces.

The announcement unveiling an “Islamic Cabinet” for Iraq appeared to have multiple aims. One was to present the Islamic State of Iraq coalition as a “legitimate” alternative to the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki—and to demonstrate that it was growing in power despite the U.S. military push against insurgents.

It also likely sought to establish the coalition’s dominance among insurgents after an embarrassing public dispute with other Iraqi Sunni militants.

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