24 May 1999
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS DISCUSS VISIT OF IRAQI OPPOSITION
(US sees opposition gaining strength as Saddam Hussein loses it) (640) By Rick Marshall USIA Staff Writer Washington -- Two senior Administration officials briefed reporters at the State Department May 24 on the visit of a delegation of Iraqi opposition figures to Washington. The group met with Secretary of State Albright earlier in the day and will spend the rest of the week consulting with government officials and meeting with local think-tanks. At their meeting, Albright made clear that the United States Government wants to see a new government in Iraq that represents all elements of Iraqi society, one official said, adding that the Secretary of State had pledged that the U.S. will do what it can to support the Iraqi people and their efforts to change the regime. Since November -- when the U.S. officially embraced the idea of working to change the regime in Baghdad -- the Iraqi opposition has become stronger, while Saddam Hussein has become weaker, the official noted. As evidence of this, he pointed to the almost daily actions U.S. pilots have taken to degrade the Iraqi leader's military forces and the "full-blown rebellion in the south which he seems incapable of suppressing." Further, the official added, there are "credible reports of trouble" within Saddam Hussein's family and among his Republican Guards. "Sooner or later Saddam will go, and we believe that it will be sooner than many people believe," he stated. The main goal of the Iraqi opposition at this point is to set a "post-Saddam agenda," the other official said. The group currently visiting Washington does not consider itself the next Iraqi government, but, taken as a whole, the group believes that it represents the voice of the Iraqi people, he said. Indeed, the opposition's most important task is to try and unite the disparate forces that oppose Saddam Hussein's rule. To this effect, a major meeting of the Iraqi opposition is scheduled for July, the official said. At that time the overall composition of the unified opposition should be clear, and the process of identifying the kinds of assistance the United States can furnish them should begin. In April, the Iraqi National Congress elected an interim leadership body. Latif Rashid of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Hoshyar Zebari of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord, Ahmed Chalabi, and Riyad al Yawir, a Sunni independent are from that body and present at the meeting with Albright. So, too, were Adnan Pachachi, a former Iraqi minister, Sharif Ali bin AlHussein of the Constitutional Monarchy Party, Hatem Mukhless, Muzhaffer Arslan, retired Gen. Hassan al-Naquib, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, and spokesman Saleh Shaikhly. Whatever their past differences, this group has been putting it behind them, the U.S. officials stressed. They made this point quite clearly to Secretary Albright in their meeting today. Indeed, the officials added, the opposition is "coming together more quickly than we expected." Unifying their efforts is the first step in rebuilding the Iraqi opposition's credibility. While this must be a "gradual process," already there are signs that Arab leaders are taking the opposition more seriously, one of the officials said. The absence of Hamid Bayati of the Supreme Council Islamic Revolution in Iraq from the group that met with Albright was noted. One of the U.S. officials suggested that this might be due to the fact that the Supreme Council is based in Iran. Asked whether the U.S. would consider forgiving Iraq's foreign debt once the regime in Baghdad was replaced, an official said that once there is a change of government, the people of Iraq will not be saddled forever by Saddam Hussein's debts. "We're looking to work with a new government to relieve that burden" and begin rehabilitating the country as quickly as possible, he said.
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