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29 July 2002

Washington To Host Iraqi Opposition Leaders In August

(Talks will focus on coordinating and cooperating with opposition
groups, says Reeker) (1255)
The United States will host a meeting in August for six Iraqi
opposition leaders in Washington to discuss the future of Iraq, said
State Department Deputy Spokesman Phillip Reeker in the July 29
regular briefing.
The meeting, to be co-hosted by Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman
and Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, will "discuss next steps
in our coordinating work with Iraqi opposition figures," and encourage
"coordination and cooperation among these groups," Reeker said.
According to Reeker the six include "Sharif Ali bin Hussein, of the
Constitutional Monarchy Movement; Ayad Allawi, of the Iraqi National
Accord; Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, of the Supreme Council of the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq; Massoud Barzani, of the Kurdistan Democratic
Party; Ahmed Chalabi, of the Iraqi National Congress; and Jalal
Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan."
The six leaders invited to the meeting represent "some of the most
prominent Iraqi opposition groups," noted Reeker.
Reeker told reporters that the United States perceives the regime of
Saddam Hussein as "a threat to his own people, to his neighbors, to
the full region, and indeed to the entire world," adding that the
United States has the responsibility to defend itself and its allies.
Following is an excerpt from the July 29 State Department press
briefing containing comments on Iraq:
(begin excerpt)
QUESTION: When you see various military options on Iraq and how to
invade Iraq in the papers these days, one being today in the New York
Times. How does this affect our relationship with people in the region
or the countries in the region? Does it help or hurt?
MR. REEKER: I'm not going to try to speculate on the variety of news
reports that emerge. It seems to me that, as you indicated, every day
we read something different. Half the time they're opposing each
other. Speculating just doesn't get us anywhere. We've been very clear
publicly as well as in our private diplomatic meetings in terms of our
concerns about Iraq and the regime of Saddam Hussein, why he presents
a threat to his own people, to his neighbors, to the full region, and
indeed to the entire world.
His efforts to develop weapons of mass destructions, his flaunting of
UN Security Council resolutions that he, himself, agreed to at the end
of the Gulf War, his support for terrorism, his barbarous treatment of
his own people are all things that are of great concern to us, and we
have a responsibility to our security and that of our friends and
allies to keep an eye on this, to keep all options on the table, as
the President has said.
So speculating on what may or may not happen, or ideas, thoughts,
plans is not very useful to anybody because it doesn't move us
anywhere. We've been quite clear with what our concerns are and the
fact that we're watching these things very, very closely. We're
talking to friends and allies, we're speaking publicly about our
concerns, but the President has said he's not received any formal
recommendations from his National Security staff, nor has he made,
then, any decisions. But our policy remains quite clear. We're
watching Iraq. We believe that regime change there would benefit all
of us, including the Iraqis, including those in the region for whom
Saddam Hussein is a direct threat, and the rest of us who need to be
very concerned about his efforts to develop weapons of mass
destruction and the capabilities with which to use them.
Yes, sir.
QUESTION: On that same vein, can you tell us any more about this
meeting next week with the Iraqi opposition groups here in Washington
and what you expect to come out of that?
MR. REEKER: I think I was able to talk with a number of you Friday
about that. We have invited several Iraqi opposition leaders to
Washington for a meeting in August that will be co-hosted by Under
Secretary of State Marc Grossman and Under Secretary of Defense Feith.
There are six leaders who have been invited. We don't have a fixed
date yet for the meeting, but we're going to look at that based on the
responses and the availability of those invited.
And again, the purpose of the meeting would be to discuss next steps
in our coordinating work with Iraqi opposition figures. As you know,
that's been something we've wanted to do for a long time. We've had a
variety of programs with a variety of representatives of Iraqi
opposition groups.
The six that are invited are representatives of some of the most
prominent Iraqi opposition groups, and we thought it was important at
this time to increase the level of coordination and cooperation among
these groups, and that's the purpose of the meeting -- largely to
encourage that. We'll also continue to look for a larger,
broader-based political conference of Iraqi opposition to be held in
coming months sometime in the future.
QUESTION: Is the focus of the meeting primarily on regime change or
after regime change?
MR. REEKER: Well, I think we simply felt it was really an opportune
time for a number of these leaders who represent a variety of
different factions, perhaps different views, to get together to
discuss closer coordination with each other and among the rest of the
opposition -- how we can help with that, exchange views and ideas, so
I think that will be what they'll focus on. And that idea of
coordination and consultation, I think, is very important. The
cooperation of all these groups is going to be important for Iraq's
future.
Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Could you name who the opposition groups were that were
coming?
MR. REEKER: I can if you'd like. I'd be happen to mention -- the six
are: Sharif Ali Bin Hussein of the Constitutional Monarchy Movement,
Iyad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord, Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim of
the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Masoud Barzani
of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National
Congress, and Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. And
I can get you spellings of any of those after the briefing.
QUESTION:  Do you happen to know when they were coming from?
MR. REEKER: I don't, Barry. I don't know individually where they are
currently located.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)