'A Terrible Loss ... for All of Iraq'

WASHINGTON — The pro-American Sunni sheiks who drove Al Qaeda from its Iraqi base in Anbar province are scrambling to settle who will succeed Sheik Abdul Sattar al-Rishawi after he was murdered yesterday by a bomb placed beneath his car.

The murder of the sheik, who headed the Anbar Awakening, the organization now sending hundreds of volunteers to join the Iraqi national police and army, stunned residents of Anbar as well as their allies in the American military. The 35-year-old sheik was handing out certificates for food and medicine to the poor at his country villa for the first day of Ramadan. After the Ramadan ritual, the sheik traveled to the provincial offices for Anbar when along the road a bomb under his car exploded.

After news spread of the murder, the head of provincial security, Colonel Tariq Yusuf, placed Anbar under martial law with 24-hour patrols by his security officers. The Shiite-led Interior Ministry sent a team to investigate the murder and announced it would build a shrine at the entrance to Anbar province, on the road that connects Ramadi to Baghdad.

Rishawi, also known as Abu Risha, defied Al Qaeda in Iraq last September and managed to build the organization that was touted this week in testimony on Capitol Hill by General David Petraeus and by President Bush in a surprise visit earlier this month to the province, which until then had been too dangerous for American senior leaders to visit.

In a televised address to the nation last night, Mr. Bush praised the numerous successes in Anbar, though he conceded that most of the benchmark goals for the Iraqi government and security forces have not yet been met.

The murder of Rishawi sent tremors throughout Washington. General Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, issued a statement calling the bombing a "terrible loss for Anbar and all of Iraq." The general pinned the bombing on Al Qaeda in Iraq, which had targeted the sheik for months, but said he was confident that the work of the Anbar Awakening and its military wing, known as the Anbar Salvation Front, would continue.

A military officer monitoring the situation closely said the early forensic reports on yesterday's attack suggest the work of Osama bin Laden's organization because of the sophisticated nature of the bomb, which evaded electronic countermeasures and bomb-sniffing dogs. "The working theory is that a senior, highly trained Al Qaeda operative disguised himself as a beggar and managed to slip the bomb under the sheik's car," the officer, who requested anonymity, said.

A hunt in Anbar, led by Colonel Yusuf, has already commenced to track down the bomber. Meanwhile, jihadist Web sites affiliated with Al Qaeda have claimed credit for the assassination, though in the past such sites have claimed false credit for terrorist acts.

Mr. Bush also acknowledged the bombing in his speech last night announcing the drawdown of some five combat brigades by next summer. "In Anbar, the enemy remains active and deadly," Mr. Bush said. "Earlier today, one of the brave tribal sheiks who helped lead the revolt against Al Qaeda was murdered. In response, a fellow Sunni leader declared: ‘We are determined to strike back and continue our work.' And as they do, they can count on the continued support of the United States."

Last night, the Anbar Awakening's leadership was searching for Ahmad Zezia al-Rishawi, a brother of the slain Abu Risha. If Mr. Rishawi was not with his brother when the car exploded and is alive, he would become the interim leader of the group. If he is dead, one possible successor could come from outside the Risha tribe, the group's chief of national political operations, Sheik Hamid Farhan al-Hays, said. The sheik will oversee the funeral of Abu Risha.