(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-22 16:49

But the military has acknowledged concerns that some members could retain allegiances to al-Qaida, particularly if they were former insurgents themselves.

Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a US military spokesman, said members were carefully screened and must pledge to renounce violence before being accepted.

"That's not to say that al-Qaida has not found a way to infiltrate some members, some groups, that clearly could be the case," Smith said Sunday, referring to the Sunni movements.

The founder of the Sunni revolt in Anbar, Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, was killed in a bombing near his compound on Sept. 13. Authorities arrested the head of his security detail who was accused of aiding the attackers.

Col. Faisal al-Zubaie, the city's police chief, identified the bomber on Sunday as Ali Hussein Allawi, who had traveled with his mother from the northern Sunni area of Samarra to visit relatives.

Allawi's father was considered a senior al-Qaida in Iraq member in Anbar, but fled the area nearly a year ago after learning he was on a wanted list of insurgents compiled by the Awakening Council, al-Zubaie said. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Police rounded up 22 uncles and other relatives in the aftermath of the bombing, releasing all but five after questioning.

"During investigations those five gave confessions, including that the boy's mother told him 'God be with you and we will meet in paradise,'" al-Issawi quoted the suspects as saying.

Al-Issawi said police were investigating how Allawi had been armed, suggesting he must have received the explosives after arriving in the area to clear extensive checkpoints along the way.

"After the explosion, police forces detained uncles and relatives of this boy," al-Issawi said. "It is unbelievable that he came from Samarra with an explosive belt on him."

The implication that it was an inside job reflects the tangled relationships of the Anbar tribes, which are divided into a patchwork of clans that often have rival agendas.

Most of the clans within the Issawi tribe have turned against al-Qaida, but a few remain loyal to the terror network.

The suicide attacker's mother -- along with another woman believed by Iraqis to be another potential suicide bomber -- took refuge in two houses in the area with other women from their clan. They have refused to come out despite orders by authorities via loudspeakers, prompting a standoff.

Authorities were hesitant to storm the buildings due to cultural sensitivities regarding use of force against women in a conservative Islamic society.

Many local residents remembered the family's connection to al-Qaida in Iraq and warned authorities after the boy's return but claimed they took no action.

The attack against the tribal leaders came one day after three suicide bombers targeted a police station in the provincial capital of Ramadi. Guards killed one attacker, but two others detonated their explosives at the entrance, killing at least five officers, authorities said.

The US military also said a Marine was killed Saturday during fighting in Anbar, the first US combat death in the province since Oct. 8.

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