Anbar Salvation Council Anbar Salvation Council ( ) is a collection of tribal militias in the Al Anbar province of Iraq , formed by former Ba ' athist s and nationalists to fight al - Qaeda in Iraq and other associated terrorist groups . In Arabic the council is known as Sahawa Al Anbar , abbreviated SAA when referred to by the US Army . The council has become a model for awakening movements across Iraq , though the Iraqi Defense Ministry has said that it plans to disband the Awakening groups due to concerns about their origins and future intent . History . Shortly after the invasion in 2003 , Sunni tribal leaders and former Ba ' athists , led by members of the Al - Kharbit ( Khalifa ) and Al - Gaoud ( Nimr ) families met to select former Ba ' ath General Karim Burjis as their unofficial leader and new Governor of Anbar Province . Burjis was later recognized by the coalition , and remained in office until 2004 , when he was forced to resign by AQI as a condition to their release of kidnapped family members . This meeting 2003 was the first attempt by Sunni tribal and nationalist leaders to self - organize and re - establish order in Al Anbar . Many of those who participated in this initial meeting fled the country for the safety of the growing ex - pat community in Amman , Jordan to include the paramount sheikhs of the Khalifa and Alwani . In 2005 , tribal leaders again attempted to form a counter - AQI body , and organized the Anbar People ' s Committee . This should not be confused with the Anbar Peoples Congress - a coalition of tribal leaders residing in Amman , Jordan . The Anbar People ' s Committee was headed by the paramount sheikh of the Albu Fahad - Sheikh Walid Abd al Karim Mukhlif Fahadawi . He was kidnapped from his home by AQI terrorists dressed as Iraqi Police and murdered . After his murder , and the murder of several other APC leaders by AQI , the APC disbanded . This was the second official attempt at organizing an indigenous anit - AQI movement . After the murder of Sheikh Walid Fahadawi , an anti - AQI vigilante group known as Thwar - al - Anbar ( the Anbar Revolutionaries ) was formed by individuals across Anbar to include Hameed al - Haiys Thiyabi , Muhammad al - Haiys Thiyabi , Jabar Fteykhan Rishawi , Aifan Sadoon Issawi , Jassim Muhammad Suwaydawi , as well as others from the Albu Fahad and Albu Bali tribes . The group ' s core members most likely never exceeded 30 members , yet had a disproportionately high impact in the fight against AQI , and the birth of the Awakening . TAA conducted their own murder and intimidation campaign in an attempt to out - terrorize the terrorists . Their operations resulting in the killing of numerous AQI emirs , and further reinforced the growing hostility toward AQI in Ramadi and Fallujah . TAA never officially disbanded , and those who survived their anti - AQI campaign served as the nucleus of what was to become the Awakening - Sahwah al - Anbar ( SAA ) . In August 2006 , members of AQI operating in Al Ramadi , murdered a prominent member of the Albu Ali Jassim tribe , decapitated his dead body , and refused to allow the body to be returned per Muslim custom for burial within the traditional 3 - day period . Following this incident , members of AQI next threatened to murder women affiliated with the Albu Ali Jassim in Ramadi . In response to the threat and murder of a prominent member , leaders within the Albu Ali Jassim , to include the murdered man ' s sons , sought assistance from other Anbar tribal leaders to include former members of TAA - Hameed al Haiys , Jassim Suwaydawi , and Jabar Rishawi - younger brother of Sheikh Abu Sattar Albu Risha . This is generally considered the beginning of SAA and the " Awakening . " commonly considered the last straw and the spark that created the Al Anbar Salvation Council . To counter AQI , Sheikh Sattar , a former insurgent leader affiliated with the Numan Brigade in Ramadi , officially organized SAA - which included in its leadership Hameed al Haiys , Jassim Suwaydawi , Wissam Hardan Al Aithawi , Sheikh Ali Hatim al Sulayman , Abdullah Jallal al Faraji , Waleed Albu Ali Jassim , and Aifan Sadoon al Issawi . Sattar had himself been victimized by AQI - with his brother and father murdered . While Wissam Hardan , Ali Hatem , and Aifan Sadoon all represented elite families within the tribes of Anbar , the majority of individuals within the SAA leadership were from families considered second and third - tier within their tribal hierarchy . This would create significant problems for coalition forces in Al Anbar who were faced with the decision of supporting the traditional tribal elite ( most of which had fled to Amman , Jordan during the worst AQI violence ) upon their return , or the " new " leadership represented by those affiliated with SAA . In November 2006 , a force of approximately 70 AQI fighters attacked the compound of Jassim Suwaydawi . Aided by coalition forces , Jassim ' s small force of 17 family members held - off the attacking force , killing and wounding the vast majority . This is commonly referred to as the Battle of Sofia , and marks another turning point in the power of AQI over the tribes of Al Anbar . As retribution for his defiance , Jassim ' s sister was abducted by members of AQI , and murdered by being dragged behind a vehicle . Her body was then decapitated , and head placed upon a pike in the middle of Sofia in an attempt to cause Jassim to come fight to retrieve it . Over the next several months , Sattar encouraged members of the tribes affiliated with SAA to join the Iraqi Police . Elements of the Army Brigade stationed aboard traditional Albu Risha land now called Camp Ramadi , were instrumental in getting these recruits organized , trained , and equipped . In addition to their decision to support the Iraqi Police , tribal militias were organized across Anbar into what became known as PSFs - Provincial Security Forces , and were ultimately accepted by the Ministry of Interior . These forces later were attacked by the first chlorine gas suicide vehicle - born improvised explosive device ( SVBIED ) in late January , 2007 , killing over 17 of their forces and demonstrating the threat Al Qaeda in Iraq considered these local security forces . Fighting against the Americans in the earlier phases of the war , elements of this group have since allied themselves with the U . S . to rid their country of foreign extremist composing mainly of al - Qaeda in Iraq . It has been reported that they have received cars , guns , and ammunition by the Iraqi and U . S . forces to counter the radical Islamists in Al - Anbar province . In recent months elderly sheiks and tribal leaders have turned away from the Islamic State of Iraq , a radical Sunni extremist terrorist organization who specializes in car bombs and suicide attacks . On May 1 , 2007 the Anbar Salvation Council announced that it had killed Abu Ayyub al - Masri , the war minister of the Islamic State of Iraq and the leader of al - Qaeda in Iraq . However , the U . S . military has refuted this claim and the status of al - Masri is still uncertain . While it is unknown if the Al Anbar Salvation council killed Abu Ayyub Al Masri , during the first few months of the council ' s existence , it is said that they killed more high level insurgents than US forces in the area . Founding . Sheik Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al - Rishawi was a Sunni leader in the Al - Anbar province leading a growing movement of Sunni tribesmen who have turned against al - Qaida - linked insurgents . Al - Rishawi , whose father and three brothers were killed by al - Qaida assassins , said insurgents were " killing innocent people , anyone suspected of opposing them . They brought us nothing but destruction and we finally said , enough is enough . " Al - Rishawi founded the Anbar Salvation Council in September 2006 with dozens of Sunni tribes . Many of the new newly friendly leaders are believed to have at least tacitly supported the insurgency in the past , though al - Rishawi said he never did . His movement , also known as the Anbar Awakening , now counts 41 tribes or sub - tribes from Anbar , though al - Rishawi acknowledges that some groups in the province have yet to join . It ' s unclear how many that is , or much support the movement really has . On September 13 , 2007 , al - Rishawi was killed along with two of his bodyguards by a roadside bomb near his home in Ramadi , Anbar , Iraq .