IRAQ - June 25 - Iraqi Shaikhs Killings May Cause Set Back.

A suicide bomber strikes at a gathering of Sunni Arab tribal leaders meeting in a Baghdad hotel, one of five suicide attacks that left at least 40 people dead across the country. The blast in the Mansour hotel killed four members of the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Shaikhs that has co-operated with US forces against the radical al-Qaeda movement, along with at least four other Iraqis. The hotel is heavily guarded, as it is home to one of the Shaikhs killed in the explosion, and other Iraqi politicians as well as western news agencies and the Chinese embassy. Nonetheless, according to police quoted in wire agencies, the bomber managed to enter the lobby and detonate his explosive vest. The deaths of the four Shaikhs may be a setback to US plans to rally tribal leaders and former insurgents against al-Qaeda. The tribal coalition has suffered a number of deadly al-Qaeda attacks in the past, some of which appeared to have helped prompt the Shaikhs to mobilise against the radicals. The attack comes at a time of internal dissension within the movement, with some members accusing the coalition founder member Abd al-Sittar al-Rishawi of seeking to use US support for his personal aggrandisement. It also coincides with one of the largest offensives by US and Iraqi troops since the 2003 invasion, as thousands of US and Iraqi troops seek to destroy al-Qaeda strongholds in the province of Diala north-east of Baghdad. US officers said on June 24 that between 60 and 100 al-Qaeda fighters had been killed in "Operation Arrowhead Ripper" - one of a series of operations which started around a week ago striking at militants based in farmland and provincial towns around the capital. The Americans say that 50 to 100 more are surrounded inside their former base in the city of Baqouba. Such large offensives have been relatively successful in breaking up insurgent strongholds in Iraqi towns. However, the Iraqi government often has problems in consolidating its authority once the main concentrations of militants are broken up - a problem alluded to by one of the US commanders heading the operation. Brigadier General Mick Bednarek told the AP this week that Iraqi forces were "not quite up to the job yet" - in some cases lacking ammunition. Iraqi soldiers frequently complain that they are inadequately supplied, which saps morale. Iraqi politicians, meanwhile, call on the US military to provide advanced equipment. US officers have suggested in the past, however, that the main problem is the failure of the Iraqi military bureaucracy to get equipment to the frontline units. Most observers agree that the Iraqi military needs to be both better trained and more numerous.