Global Policy Forum

By Omayma Abdel-Latif

Iraqi opposition figures are unimpressed by US plans to appoint a political council to assist in running the occupied country.

It was the first time Iraq's most prominent religious authority, Ayatollah Mohamed Ali Sistani, went public with his views about the US presence in Iraq. "The American campaign to put an end to Saddam's tyranny now looks like an occupation, not a liberation. The occupation forces have committed grave mistakes," Sistani told a gathering held in conjunction with his meeting with Masoud Barazani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), earlier this week. As he delivered his scathing criticism, Sistani was reported to have repeatedly asked when the US would hand over power to an independent Iraqi government.

Sistani's concerns were echoed by a majority of Iraqi opposition groups who expressed frustration with the US failure to secure a quick transition to an interim Iraqi authority, as it had promised. This week, simmering discontent among Iraq's various opposition factions reached new levels owing to a decision by US Administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer to establish a political council of 25-30 members. The members will be hand-picked by Bremer himself to assist the occupying authority in ruling Iraq. Several Iraqi opposition sources who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly about the measure were vehemently opposed to it. One opposition figure expressed alarm over what he described as "America's reneging on its promises, its ambivalent attitudes towards the Iraqi opposition and its inability to understand Iraq's complicated political make-up".

"The US's reading and understanding of the Iraqi situation has proved totally wrong," Usama Al- Tikriti of the Iraqi Islamic Party told the Weekly in a telephone interview from Abu Dhabi. Al- Tikriti, whose party has set up offices in various Iraqi cities, pointed out that most opposition groups have serious doubts about the US's actual intentions in Iraq. "First there was talk about an interim government, which would pave the way for elections and a constitution, but all this was reduced to a council of Iraqis hand-picked by Bremer. No Iraqi will accept this," said Al- Tikriti who is heading for Iraq next week.

The recent developments brought to the fore questions about the complicated political situation of post-war Iraq. The two months since the fall of Baghdad have witnessed a mushrooming of political forces inside Iraq. None, however, managed to galvanise perceptible grass-roots support among Iraqis. The situation seems to reflect a long-standing ambivalence that existed even before the conflict over the role domestic political forces were meant to assume in the post-war scheme.

Bremer's decision to set up a council with an advisory role on policy issues is the latest in a series of moves that have been viewed by many observers as an attempt to sideline some of Iraq's major political forces and exiled opposition. Last month, he cancelled the long-awaited national conference that was due to bring together Iraq's political and social forces to discuss the country's political future and their role in shaping it. This move was interpreted by opposition groups as yet another attempt by the US-led occupation authority to obstruct any effort towards the creation of an Iraqi-run government.

Bremer's policies have drawn heavy criticism from some opposition figures. Hamid Al-Bayati, spokesman of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the prominent Shi'ite opposition movements, said, "Many Iraqis are dismayed by Bremer and his ideas. They -- the Americans -- have backtracked on everything they agreed on with the opposition," Al- Bayati told reporters.

Bayan Gabr, head of the SCIRI office in Damascus, said his group decided to boycott Bremer's council on the basis that the formation of such a body breaches UN Security Council Resolution 1483. "This UN resolution gives three parties the right to appoint an interim authority: the UN, the occupying forces and the Iraqi people. Bremer's monopoly over who should or should not represent the Iraqi people is in breach of this resolution," Gabr told the Weekly.

Gabr suggested that the G-7 Command Council, which was set up by Iraqi opposition figures during one of their pre-war meetings, would be a more appropriate body to play a leadership role in Iraq, saying that it represents political forces with wide support in the country. The G-7 includes the SCIRI, KDP, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Iraqi National Congress (INC), the Iraqi National Accord (INA), the Constitutional Monarchy Movement and a representative of the Independent Iraqi Democrats movement headed by Adnan Bachachi, a former Iraqi foreign minister.

Bremer, however, argued that the G-7 Command Council "is not [fully] representative of the country" since it does not include Christian groups and various tribal organisations. Gabr and others reject that view, saying that while they acknowledge the need to broaden the G-7 Council to include forces such as the Assyrian Democratic Movement, the Iraqi Turkman Front and other Kurdish, Islamist and nationalist forces, he still insists that the G-7 remains the core of the Iraqi opposition.

Observers say that recent developments reflect the political impasse in which the Iraqi opposition finds itself. One of the greatest challenges those groups are expected to face in the forthcoming period is whether to accept or reject operating within the framework set up by the US. The opposition's angry reaction towards the policies of the US civil administrator augurs a troubled relationship. Opposition groups also feel pressure to declare a unified stand against US plans. On Tuesday, there was a public display of unity when various political forces met in Arbil at the Kurdish parliament to discuss the political situation in Iraq. The meeting was seen by some observers as an attempt by the Iraqi opposition to close ranks and resist Bremer's attempts to sideline it.

"There is agreement amongst the INC, the PUK, KDP and the Independent Iraqi Democrats that we should not bow down to what is imposed on us by Bremer. We will express our opposition through demonstrations, strikes and will use all democratic channels to register our rejection of his plans,"

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