I would suggest going for tribal Sheikhs rather than clerics, since they have the upper hand in their areas and can effectively root out any Ba'athists in their midst in return for a promise of sharing power and authority.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	3:nsubj|4:nsubj:xsubj	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	3:aux	_
3	suggest	suggest	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	0:root	_
4	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	3:xcomp	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	7:case	_
6	tribal	tribal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	7:amod	_
7	Sheikhs	sheikh	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	4:obl:for	_
8	rather	rather	ADP	IN	_	10	cc	10:cc	_
9	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	8:fixed	_
10	clerics	cleric	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	7:conj:rather_than	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	4:punct	_
12	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	14:mark	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	14:nsubj|24:nsubj	_
14	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	4:advcl:since	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	17:det	_
16	upper	upper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	17:amod	_
17	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	14:obj	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	20:case	_
19	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	20:nmod:poss	_
20	areas	area	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	14:obl:in	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	24:cc	_
22	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	24:aux	_
23	effectively	effectively	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	24:advmod	_
24	root	root	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	conj	4:advcl:since|14:conj:and	_
25	out	out	ADP	RP	_	24	compound:prt	24:compound:prt	_
26	any	any	DET	DT	_	27	det	27:det	_
27	Ba'athists	Ba'athist	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	24	obj	24:obj	_
28	in	in	ADP	IN	_	30	case	30:case	_
29	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	30:nmod:poss	_
30	midst	midst	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nmod	27:nmod:in	_
31	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	32:case	_
32	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	24:obl:in	_
33	for	for	ADP	IN	_	35	case	35:case	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	35:det	_
35	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	32:nmod:for	_
36	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	37	mark	37:mark	_
37	sharing	share	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	35	acl	35:acl:of	_
38	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	37:obj	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	40:cc	_
40	authority	authority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	conj	37:obj|38:conj:and	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	3:punct	_
