New police chief appointed in Anbar following bombings

Anbar, Dec. 28 (AKnews) -  Brigadier General Abdul Hadi Arzij has been officially announced by Anbar provincial council as new police chief after dismissing the former chief following Monday bombings that targeted government compounds and killed nine.   The Anbar provincial council voted unanimously on Friday to dismiss police chief Baha al-Qaisi from his office and appoint Brigadier General Hadi Arzij instead. In an official announcement in Ahmed Abu Rish place in Ramadi city, Arzij was officially assigned as the new police chief in the province to replace al-Qaisi who was fire by the provincial council for poor management. "The dismissal of al-Qaisi who served as commander of the police came as a result of his poor management for security situation (in the province) and the security breaches" recently that. On Monday, two bombers attacked government buildings killing nine and injuring 53 others, most of them civilians. In mid-December, too, bombers attacked the government buildings in a similar scenario and killed 13 and wounded more than 45 others. "We wish the new leader of the Anbar provincial police to enforce new security plans to protect the lives of innocent people in the province." the governor of Anbar, Qassim Mohammed Abed, told AKnews. The move was welcomed by the tribal leaders of the mainly Sunni province, as well, who took up arms in 2006 against the insurgents like al-Qaeda in Iraq and formed the Awakening Councils to help Iraqi security forces. Anbar was enjoying relative stability since 2006 when the Awakening Councils drove out insurgents from the province. "The tribes in Anbar welcomed the new police leader as he represents them, and he is one of the people of Ramadi" said Aifan Saadoun, head of the security committee in Anbar provincial council. Saadoun says the council requested ending the work of al-Qaisi not because of security breaches, but because they wanted a a police commander who "represents its sons and be familiar with the geography of the province,"   Al-Qaisi said in an interview with AKnews that he accepted the dismissal and that he was at least happy that he was able, during the time he served as police chief, to thwart numerous organized crimes and bombings. "The maintenance of security in Anbar was one of my priorities" he said. Reported by Ali al-Qaisi, edited by Raber Y. Aziz Rn/AKnews Tuesday, December 28th 2010 1:46 PM