Salahaldin Al-Ayoubi Brigades Deny Any Contacts with Iraqi Government

On January 31, 2007, an Islamist website posted a communiqué in the name of the Salahaldin Al-Ayoubi Brigades, in which the groups deny allegations by the Al-Watan daily that the Salahaldin Al-Ayoubi Brigades had contacted the Iraqi government in an attempt to join the political process in Iraq. In the message, the groups explain that their official announcements are posted either on their official website or via specific Islamist websites, but never via a spokesman, and that Al-Watan had therefore erred in attributing information to the Salahaldin Al-Ayoubi Brigades based on statements by Dr. Murtadha Al-'Ani, who presented himself as the groups' spokesmen.