Leaders deny Iraqi Awakening Council members defecting to al Qaed

The leaders of Awakening Councils in two Iraqi provinces Sunday denied a report that hundreds of council members have defected to al Qaeda.

"There is no way that my fighters would join al Qaeda, no matter what, because their principles and their goals are to hunt down al Qaeda members in Iraq," said Sheikh Hussam al-Majmaei, leader of the Awakening Council in Diyala province, who has more than 13,000 fighters under his command.

The New York Times reported Sunday that hundreds of fighters appear to have rejoined al Qaeda in recent months, many of them after gaining extensive knowledge of the U.S. military. The report cited unnamed Iraqi government officials, current and former Awakening Council members and insurgents.