Following are excerpts from an interview with Sheik Ali Hatem Sleiman of the Al-Anbar Awakening Council, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on March 28, 2008:

Sheik Ali Hatem Sleiman: [Al-Qaeda] came [to Iraq] under the pretext of Jihad. The Islamic and non-Islamic world witnesses what is happening in Iraq, because of the actions of these Al-Qaeda dogs. What kind of Jihad is it if they kill people, destroy homes, and bring an entire country to ruin under the pretext of Jihad? So far, we haven't seen any real Jihad against the Americans, except for that carried out by some of the Iraqi factions. With Al-Qaeda we have an open war. For two years, they have been killing and dishonoring us. Obviously, this is something the tribes will not tolerate. The Awakening Council has now launched a plan to attack the Al-Qaeda organization wherever it may be, Allah be praised. The foreign support that Al-Qaeda receives – all that money and those fighters, the scum that comes from all around... Allah be praised, we Iraqis have proven our ability [to deal with them].

[...]

When did Bin Laden resurface? When Bush's first term was about to end, and he was running for a second term, Bin Laden, who kept quiet for four years, popped up two days before the elections, and helped brother Bush win. What is this?! To be honest, we do not consider [Al-Qaeda] to be just a regular enemy. By Allah, we have even excluded them from the protection of the laws of human rights, the laws of the government, and from the protection of tribal laws. We have excluded them from these laws, and killing them is permissible.