RELATIONS SOURS BETWEEN THE US WITH IRAQI SHI’ITES
By Ahmad Ra’fat
AMMAN-JORDAN 29 Mar. (IPS) As Washington expressed its irritation with some Iraqi groups opposed to President Saddam Hoseyn, namely the Tehran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SAIRI), the absence of support on the part of the Iraqi Shi’ites in Basra and elsewhere in the country for the American-led aimed at toppling the dictator of Baghdad has surprised many Arab and European experts.
Mr. Donald Rumsfeld
, the hawkish US Defence Secretary warned the SAIRI against sending its troops inside Iraq, menacing they would be considered as "enemy" unless controlled by the American commander and accused Tehran to have allowed "hundreds" of Iraqi armed men from the "al-Badr Brigade" stationed in Iran to secretly enter Iraq and fight Saddam forces, "complicating" American military planning.
Iranian experts estimates at 25.000 to 50.000 the number of the Badr Brigade, a force made of Iraqi refugees trained and armed by the Iranians.
Mr Rumsfeld also accused Damascus of allowing military equipments being shipped from Syria to Iraq and warned Syrian President that the United States considers such transfers as an act of "hostility" against its interests and would hold Damascus responsible for the consequences.
In an interview with IPS by telephone, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SAIRI) said he had warned the United States that until the role of the Iraqi Provisory Council -- supposed to govern Iraq in the immediate post-Saddam period -- was not clear, he would not take part in any military operation.
Mr. Hakim said though he had not called on the Shi’a population of Basra, Najaf or Naseriyah to raise up, yet he does "understands" those who take arm against Saddam Hoseyn the Ba’athist agents.
Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Hakim, a younger brother of the Ayatollah and an influential member of the SAIRI regretted Mr. Rumsfeld’s statement and assured that al-Badr forces had "no connection" with Iranian army.
Iran also on Saturday rejected as "baseless" the US charges of interference in Iraq by supporting the armed wing of an Iraqi opposition and reaffirmed its pledge that its borders will remain closed to any military movement.
Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said Iran's position regarding the Iraq crisis is based on national interests, stressing that Tehran still remained determined not to side with any of the parties involved in the "meaningless" war.
"Tehran is surprised that the US has mobilised its troops from the other end of the world and is interfering in Iraq's internal affairs but prohibits any measure by the Iraqi opposition as interference in Iraq's internal affairs", Mr. Ramezanzadeh said, adding "This is one of the new jokes of the world'.
Ayatollah Hakim’s statement confirms reports of divergences among Iraqi opposition, both among the Shi’as as well as between the SAIRI and the Kurds over the future of Iraq and the role of the Americans once Saddam is removed from power.
The Shi’a, who are in majority in Iraq, are against the idea of a direct rule over Iraq by Washington, even for a limited period, prefer the Provisory Council, in which the SAIRI has a leading voice, to take over.
"We told that to Mr. Zalmay Khalizad, the White House Special Envoy for Iraq during our last meeting in Ankara" Ayatollah Baqer al Hakim said, referring to the recent meeting in the Turkish Capital between representatives of six main Iraqi opposition groups in the one hand, the US and Turkish officials on the other, discussing the role of the six-men Provisory Council as well as the relations between the Iraqi opposition, mostly the Iraqi Kurds, with Ankara.
The Provisory Council, made of representatives from six Iraqi groups opposed to Saddam Hoseyn and backed by Washington, was formed more than a month ago in Salaheddin, in the Kurdish controlled area of the Iraqi Kurdistan, based on decision taken by the all Iraqi opposition conference that was organised in London last December.
But other Iraqi opponents based in the Jordanian Capital of Amman accuse the Tehran-based SAIRI and its leader, Ayatollah Hakim, of "blackmailing" the Americans by "abusing" from the situation in order to obtain the "lion’s share" in the future Iraqi government.
"Though President George W. Bush has so far rejected the SAIRI’s ultimatum, but if the Allied forces are unable to occupy Basra, Najaf and Naseriyah and secure these strategic cities in the near future, then he might be forced to either accept Ayatollah Hakim’s conditions or revert to massive bombardment of these cities in order to flush out Saddam’s forces, but at the cost of thousands of civilian casualties, something that he wants to avoid", the source, a prominent Shi’a personality told Iran Press Service on condition of anonymity.
Likewise, but or different reasons, the Iraqi Kurdish organisations are also not satisfied with both Washington’s acceptance of the presence, although limited to 20 kilometres, of Turkish forces inside northern Iraq in the one hand and oppose the active participation of Iraqi opposition forces in the "Shock and Awe" operations, Kurdish sources said.
"This means that the United States is not serious in seeing the Provisory Council playing an active role in the post-Saddam period", the source told IPS on condition of not being named.
In a conference organised in London on Saturday on the invitation of Mr. Adnan Pachachi, a former Iraqi Foreign Minister, participants, mostly seculars, agreed on a project aimed at forming an "all Iraqi Council" to rule Baghdad after the fall of Mr. Hoseyn, a rival replica of the present Provisory Council.
Meanwhile, American forces faced Saturday the first case of suicide operation after a taxi exploded at an American military checkpoint north of the holy city of Najaf, killing at least five US army personnel and wounding nine others.
Any method that stops or kills the enemy will be used", Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told a news conference in Baghdad.
Iraqi state television named the bomber as Ali Hammadi al-Namani, an army officer, and claimed he had killed 11 Americans, not four. It said President Saddam Hussein had awarded medals to the bomber.
The suicide attack threatens to complicate Washington's task of defending supply lines and preparing for a major battle for Baghdad, as American officers in the field said there would be a pause in the advance on Baghdad for four to six days to consolidate supply lines.
However, headquarters commanders said aerial bombardments of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities would continue unabated. ENDS US SAIRI 29303