THE SALAFI WHO COME IN FROM THE HEAT:

Iraq insurgency: al-Qa'eda returns home: Damien McElroy spent a week in the heart of the insurgency in Anbar province in Iraq. In the third of five exclusive reports, he describes how al-Qa'eda loyalists are returning home. (Damien McElroy, 10/10/2007, Daily Telegraph)

A unique tribal reconciliation process is allowing repentant former al-Qa'eda loyalists to return to homes and families free from the threat of arrest by coalition forces.

The voluntary scheme has gained the backing of American commanders but is being run by local chieftains to rehabilitate sons of the region who no longer follow the path of violence.

Al-Qaim, a district in the far west of Anbar province, has reported dramatic gains against al-Qa'eda cells in the area but now faces a dilemma over the return of ex-residents who had joined the ranks of radical Islamic fighters after the American invasion in 2003.
Children in Anbar province
Refugee Iraqi children at the beach side resort of Habbinya in the Anbar province

In the fight against al-Qa'eda which has raged since last year, hundreds of residents of the region were forced out by fighting but have since signalled a wish to go home.

Sheikh Kurdi Rafi al-Shurayji, who as factor for the paramount sheikh acts as a chief representative of the tribes in the area, revealed a formal system had been established to rehabilitate ex-residents that renounced al-Qa'eda.

"Many of our people want to come back to their families," he said. "If they are young, they can't get married or get a job outside their own people. The older ones who worked with al-Qa'eda want to get back to resume their lives."

Sheikh Kurdi has forged a deal with the American coalition that gives US commanders a supervisory role in the rehabilitation process.

An applicant's first point of contact is his own sheikh, who must agree to sponsor his plea and vouch that he will not resume insurgent activity.

"We conduct background checks on the individuals to ensure that they do not have Iraqi blood on their hands," said Sheikh Kurdi. "If they are clean we ask them to reveal all they know about insurgent activity. In this way we have found weapons caches and even discovered unknown cells."