2 Iraqis' different paths lead to U.S. cooperation

RAMADI, IRAQ — One is from the city, a businessman with the hint of smuggling to his name.

The other is a wealthy sheik from the countryside.

Two years ago, they allied with the U.S. Army and Marines in a civilian uprising that broke Al Qaeda in Iraq's reign of terror over this city once synonymous with the insurgency -- and in the process became heroes to the people of Ramadi and the American military alike.

Now, the two Sunni Arabs have taken on equally crucial roles in the remarkable rebuilding of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. And each has once again become an ally of the Americans, this time in the U.S. effort to put a more modern, Western face on Ramadi's police and government.

Ahmed Hamid Sharqi, the businessman who turned his employees into a combat unit to calm central Ramadi, is now Col. Ahmed, commander of the Iraqi police's North Precinct in Ramadi. He has emerged as a key player in restoring the rule of law and setting up a firewall between the security forces and the region's influential, and often meddling, tribal leaders.

Sheik Ahmed Aboud, one of the tribal leaders who turned against the Sunni insurgent group in what is called the Awakening movement, is now trying to dislodge Ramadi's old-guard politicians by forging a new political machine based on American-style grass-roots organization.

The unlikely convergence of their paths started in the last half of 2006 as the U.S. military moved on Ramadi, a city whose police force and government had collapsed under the heel of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The U.S. military took the city but was unable to dislodge the extremists, who launched relentless attacks and sent suicide bombers to strike at police recruitment drives.

As Al Qaeda in Iraq intensified its campaign of terror in the city, and his uncle and cousins were killed, Sharqi decided to enter the fight.

"They were trying to kill me too," he said.

Sharqi ran a trucking business and a gas station near the Jordanian border, activities his Marine patrons consider tantamount to smuggling. But they judge him only by his current performance.

"He gets the response from his subordinates that you would expect," said Capt. Jonathan Hamilton, commander of the Marines' weapons company in Ramadi. "Because of his connection with the people, he knows what's happening in North Ramadi."

Unlike units pulled together by the sheiks, which received training from the U.S. military, Sharqi said, he led a true civilian uprising.