At the beginning of this week the interim Iraqi government and US occupation forces were hoping to reach a peaceful solution to clashes that have continued for months in the city of Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, and Sadr City, a suburb in Baghdad.

The control of the city of Samuraa, 120 km north of Baghdad, was a warning message to the rebellious cities of a military attack if they would not accept the peaceful solution.

At the time, a peace agreement is being carried out in Sadr City and Fallujah, US airplanes violated the temporary truce in Fallujah and bombed certain places there Monday night.

The event raises question about difference between Sadr City, inhabited by mostly Shiites, and Fallujah, inhabited by mostly Sunnis.

It was clear that the resistance in Sadr City, which is Mehdi Army, the militia of young Shiite leader Muqtada Al Sadr, was ready to follow the orders of the leadership.

However, there did not appear any unified leadership of religious reference for the armed group in Fallujah.

The difference between the two regions is that Shiites generally tend to the peaceful solution and joining the political process to take part in the general elections next January.

Meanwhile, many Sunni leaders said that the Sunnis, who ruled Iraq for centuries, including the era of Saddam Hussein, were suffering neglect under the coalition of the Shiite and the Kurds, who are supported by the United States and are expected to play an expanded role in the elections.

The Muslim Scholars Association, a Sunni gathering, announced that it would not take part in the elections.

Arab leaders and Sunni said that many of the Sunnis were skeptical about US projects in Iraq, and they were also infuriated by the deteriorating security situation in areas dominated by Sunnis, which enhances the possibility of being eliminated from wide participation in the elections.

The Sunni participation is a decisive thing, and the Sunni boycott is still not a sure thing, for some of the Sunni leaders hope for a change in the situation.

US officials fear that if there was not a huge turnout taking part in the elections, they would not be considered legitimate, moreover, it might increase resistance all over the country.

"What we think is that the people should take part in the elections. Nevertheless, they say that they do not want to. What is the use with all these explosions? Big clans like Dulaim and Jibour say so," said Dhary Al Samurai.

One of the most obvious differences is that the resistance in Sadr City are Iraqis, while the government and the Americans claim that foreign fighters constitute the most important element of resistance in the Sunni areas.

Foreign elements, like Abu Musaab Al Zarqawi, a Jordanian Islamic extremist, refuse any dialogue with the government or occupation forces and believe that Muslims should work to rid Iraq of American forces and whoever cooperates with them.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2004)