A pivotal figure in the “Anbar Awaklening” is fallen:

Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was the leader of an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that rejected al-Qaeda because of its methods and worked with the US.

He was killed in a bomb attack near his home in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

Abu Risha was among a group of tribal leaders who met President George W Bush during his visit to Iraq last week.

“The sheikh’s car was totally destroyed by the explosion. Abu Risha was killed and two of his bodyguards were seriously wounded,” Ramadi police officer Ahmed Mahmoud al-Alwani told Reuters.

Later it was reported that both bodyguards had died.

Abu Risha was the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as the Anbar Awakening, an alliance of clans which sided with US forces and the Iraqi government in order to try to reclaim Anbar province from al-Qaeda.

More here.  This is not good news.  Sattar was a key figure in the turning of the Ramadi tribes against al Qaeda, rogue tribes and indigenous fighters who had joined the insurgency.  The hope and prayer is that in spite of this, the “Awakening” will live on and peace will come to this land.