 The council has become a model for awakening movements across Iraq, though the Iraqi Defense Ministry has said that it plans to disband the Awakening groups due to concerns about their origins and future intent.Shortly after the invasion in 2003, Sunni tribal leaders and former Ba'athists, led by members of the Al-Kharbit (Khalifa) and Al-Gaoud (Nimr) families met to select former Ba'ath General Karim Burjis as their unofficial leader and new Governor of Anbar Province.Burjis was later recognized by the coalition, and remained in office until 2004, when he was forced to resign by AQI as a condition to their release of kidnapped family members.