Iraqi National Congress (INC)
Established in 1992 as an umbrella group bringing together diverse opposition elements including Kurdish, Islamist, and Arab nationalist groups, the group encountered difficulties in uniting the various factions at times. Initially launched by Kurdish personalities, some 170 Iraqi opposition figures participated the 1992 conference that established the INC in Salah Al-Din that elected a three-member presidential council for the INC: Shi'a cleric Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum; ex-Iraqi General Hasan Naqib; and Kurdistan Democratic Party head Mas'ud Barzani. Ahmad Chalabi was elected chair of the INC's executive council.
The INC took part in a failed coup attempt against the Hussein regime in 1996, after which Hussein's retaliated by attacking INC bases in the northern Iraq, killing 200 supporters and forcing thousands to flee. Chalabi lobbied endlessly from the mid-1990s in an effort to gain U.S. support for the overthrow of the regime. His group was first funded by the CIA and later by the Pentagon.
Chalabi entered Baghdad soon after Operation Iraqi Freedom and attempted to gain popular support among the Iraqi indigenous population. His 700-member Free Iraqi Forces militia, operating with the approval of the U.S. military, was dismantled by the coalition in May 2003 after its members were accused of burglary, harassment, and unauthorized detention of Iraqi citizens. Chalabi was afforded a seat on the Iraqi Governing Council but was not appointed to serve in the interim Iraqi government. The Pentagon eliminated a $340,000 monthly stipend to the INC in May 2004 just before allegations surfaced that Chalabi's group had passed sensitive U.S. intelligence to Iran, an allegation he has denied.
The INC publishes the newspaper "Al-Mu'tamar."
