Iraq News by Laurie Mylroie
The central focus of Iraq News is the tension between the considerable, proscribed WMD capabilities that Iraq is holding on to and its increasing stridency that it has complied with UNSCR 687 and it is time to lift sanctions. If you wish to receive Iraq News by email, a service which includes full-text of news reports not archived here, send your request to Laurie Mylroie .
IRAQ NEWS, FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 1999
I. "KERREY: IRAQ OPPOSITION MORE UNITED," REUTERS, APR 8
II. IRAQI OPPOSITION TO DISCUSS ARMED RESISTANCE, AFP, APR 8
In a review of developments since 1993, "Iraq News," Mar 4, sought
to explain why the extremely bellicose language of the Feb 14 Iraqi
leadership statement--threatening Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and others, and
subsequently repeated by senior Iraqi officials and the Iraqi press--was
serious. And then what happened? Nothing. The intensity of Iraq's
belligerence and defiance diminished. It was significantly less in
March, than in the month before. That is one reason why "Iraq News" has
been so thin. But another reason, with apologies, is that another, very
time-consuming project has arisen. "Iraq News" will continue to put out
all significant developments that do not make the major US newspapers,
but, for now, with abbreviated commentary.
Notably, the US has no answer to the threat posed by Iraq's
proscribed unconventional weapons programs, despite UNSCOM/the IAEA
being absent from Iraq for nearly four months. As today's NYT reported,
Baghdad has rejected even the squishy UNSC compromise proposal to
reestablish some form of weapons monitoring.
On a brighter note, the INC Executive Council meeting, Apr 7 & 8,
outside London, went well. As Sen. Bob Kerrey, who attended the meeting
explained, according to AP, Apr 8, "The unity that was missing is now
there . . . I was impressed by their ability to subordinate their
personal interests for their common cause." Kerrey also "said the Iraqi
leaders were seeking assurances that the United States would back up its
pledged support of the opposition with the supply of weapons and
artillery if the groups were attacked. 'We've got to be less ambiguous
about what we mean by support,' Kerrey said."
AFP, Apr 8, also reported on the meeting.
I. "KERREY: IRAQ OPPOSITION MORE UNITED"
Kerrey: Iraq Opposition More United
Thursday, April 8, 1999; 6:12 p.m. EDT
LONDON (AP) -- Iraqi opposition leaders have grown more united in their
bid to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Sen. Bob Kerrey said Thursday,
after the groups agreed on a new leadership council.
Leaders from rival exiled opposition groups, under U.S. pressure to
unite, met for two days in Britain with Kerrey, a Nebraska Democrat and
member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Frank Ricciardone, who
was appointed last year by President Clinton to coordinate with the
Iraqi groups.
``The unity that was missing is now there,'' Kerrey told The
Associated Press after the meeting. ``I was impressed by their ability
to subordinate their personal interests for their common cause.''
The groups agreed to keep the Iraqi National Congress -- an umbrella
group of Kurdish, Shiite and leftist groups formed in 1992 to topple the
Iraqi president -- as the overall organization for the cause and agreed
on a new seven-member leadership council, said Zaab Sethna, spokesman
for the INC.
The council would have representatives of the four main opposition
groups, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, the Iraqi National Accord and the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, even though the last group did not attend the
meeting.
The INC would also have a representative and the other two seats
would be filled by independents, Sethna said.
The groups also agreed to a meeting of the Iraqi National Assembly,
the opposition parliament in exile, within the next two months, possibly
in Washington, Sethna said.
The INC has been afflicted by internal bickering, ideological and
ethnic divisions and the conflicting interests of Iraq's neighbors - the
countries that host the dissident groups.
Clinton has proclaimed that Saddam's ouster is a major U.S. goal.
Congress has allocated $97 million in aid for Iraqi dissidents, and U.S.
and British planes patrol the skies over dissident strongholds in
northern and southern Iraq.
But some groups have avoided the American initiative, voicing their
concerns over being affiliated with the United States in efforts to
topple Saddam.
Kerrey said the Iraqi leaders were seeking assurances that the United
States would back up its pledged support of the opposition with the
supply of weapons and artillery if the groups were attacked.
``We've got to be less ambiguous about what we mean by support,'' Kerrey
said.
II. IRAQI OPPOSITION TO DISCUSS ARMED RESISTANCE
Iraqi opposition groups agree summit to discuss armed resistance
WINDSOR, England, April 8
(AFP) - A coalition of 11 Iraqi opposition groups decided Thursday to
meet within the next three months to try to agree military plans for
armed resistance to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
At a two-day meeting at Windsor, west of London, participants
discussed how to combine efforts in their struggle against the Iraqi
regime.
The meeting was the first time since the summer of 1996 that the
umbrella Iraqi National Congress (INC) succeeded in gathering a majority
of parties and groups opposed to Saddam.
The parties included Shiite and Sunni Moslems from the south, the
main Kurdish parties from the north and representatives of Turkish and
Assyrian minorities.
In particular, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) attended its
first INC session since it called on Baghdad to send troops to northern
Iraq in 1996.
The US special representative for the transition of Iraq, Frank
Ricciardone, and a British Foreign office representative also attended.
But noticeable by its absence was the main Shi'ite Moslem opposition
grouping in southern Iraq, the Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
At stake is a 97-million-dollar American military aid package,
promised in the event of the emergence of a united grouping opposed to
Saddam. Washington and London have actively encouraged resistance to
Baghdad since before last December's air strikes against the Iraqi
military.
INC spokesman Salah Shaikhly told AFP that the 250-strong INC
national assembly would meet by July 7 at a place to be decided "to
elect a new leadership and to set out new policies for the next phase.
"People are looking for mechanisms of how to implement" the American
aid package.
He added the meeting would decide "who's going to receive what,
whether or not people are going to be(militarily) trained".
In a statement the INC said the delegates had also decided to
"reactivate communal action, eliminate their differences and guarantee a
political truce" under the auspices of the INC.
They also renewed their "determination to replace the dictatorial
regime with a democratic one which respected human rights."
Shaikhly expressed optimism that the Iran-based SCIRI would come on
board by July even if it refuses to accept US military aid.
Delegates from the KDP and their rivals, the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), also reiterated their public denial of willingness to
accept US military assistance Thursday.
But Shaikhly said that in private the two groups had left the door
open.
He added that the KDP and PUK wanted assurances that Washington "can
provide sufficient support for them".
According to the INC, there are now areas that "Saddam Hussein no
longer controls" under the no-fly zones patrolled by American and
British warplanes in the north and south.
The northern no-fly zone was set up in 1991 and the southern zone in
1992 in order to protect the Kurds and Shiites from internal repression.
The American money has been promised for the arming and training of
opposition groups to allow them to "fight back" against any attacks by
Saddam Hussein's forces.
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