HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) For the leaders of two Connecticut tribes proposing to build new casinos together, some of the toughest people to win over have been their own tribal members.

Mohegan Tribe Chairman and retired U.S. Army colonel Kevin Brown says building the alliance with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation has reminded him of his work trying to bring together rival factions in Iraq.

The Connecticut tribes, driven together by the threat of outside competition, have a lot of history to overcome. For two decades they have operated two of the world's largest casino resorts only seven miles apart, and before that there was the 1637 massacre in which Mohegans raided a Pequot village.

Brown and Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler tell The Associated Press the tribes are rallying around the threat of new competition from Massachusetts casinos.