08 August 2002
U.S. to Work with a "Broad Array" of Iraqi Opposition Groups
(State's Reeker says planning under way for post-Saddam Iraq) (1170) Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith are co-hosting a meeting in Washington August 9 with representatives of six Iraqi opposition groups who were invited to Washington to discuss their role in a future Iraq, State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker said. "This obviously is a meeting that's designed to discuss next steps in coordinating our work with the Iraqi opposition. We think it's important to have this coordination and cooperation among those groups, and that's what our meeting will encourage," said Reeker at the regular State Department briefing August 8. Reeker stressed the importance of continuing contacts with Iraqi opposition groups and having working group meetings with a variety of experts in addressing a post-Saddam Iraq. Reeker also said that the United States will continue to work closely with the international community "to secure Iraq's full compliance with all U.N. Security Council resolutions" seeking Iraq's "unconditional acceptance and full cooperation with the U.N. weapons inspectors to verify the disarmament that Iraq is required to undertake." Reeker stated that although President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell consider the Iraqi regime a threat to the Iraqi people, the region, and to international stability and security, the United States continues to leave all options open regarding Iraq. (begin excerpt) QUESTION: So, do you have any reaction to Saddam Hussein's speech today warning the US against any military attack against his country? MR. REEKER: Well, I think some comments have come from other corners of our government, but it's obvious once again that Saddam's comments are a bluster from an internationally isolated dictator, demonstrative yet again that this regime shows no intention to live up to its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions. Those obligations are about disarmament. The President and the Secretary have been quite clear. We continue to leave all our options available regarding Iraq. Saddam Hussein's regime remains a serious threat to the Iraqi people, to the people of the region, to the neighbors of Iraq, and to international peace and stability. And as the President underscored in his State of the Union Address earlier this year, the regime not only pursues weapons of mass destruction and missiles, but it has shown no reluctance to use weapons even against its own people, as we have seen so vividly in the past. So we are going to continue working closely with our allies, with the international community, to secure Iraq's full compliance with all UN Security Council resolutions, the obligations that Iraq undertook, including the unconditional acceptance and full cooperation with the UN weapons inspectors to verify the disarmament that Iraq is required to undertake. Terri. QUESTION: Can you confirm that you've gotten positive replies from everybody who was invited to the meeting tomorrow, everyone whose names you gave us are expected to be there? MR. REEKER: Which meeting are we talking about? QUESTION: The Iraqi oppositions meeting. Sorry. MR. REEKER: Yes, as I discussed yesterday, I believe we expect -- let me find here what I have on that. Well, we talked about it yesterday -- expect representatives of the six groups-- that have been invited to Washington for this meeting co-hosted by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Grossman and Under Secretary of Defense Feith. It will take place at the Department, that is tomorrow, August 9th. So there were six groups representing Iraqi oppositionists, and we expect to have representatives from all six of those groups. QUESTION: I'm asking about the names of the people that you gave us. Are those all the people who will be here, not just the groups? MR. REEKER: I'm not sure of the exact things. You might want to check with the groups particularly to see exactly who is going to make it in terms of who may or may not represent the individual leaders of those groups that we invited. I can check back on that and we'll see as we approach the meeting tomorrow, since the meeting is tomorrow. This obviously is a meeting that is designed to discuss next steps in coordinating our work with the Iraqi opposition. We think it's important to have this coordination and cooperation among those groups, and that is what our meeting will encourage. .......... QUESTION: Back to the Iraqi opposition. How much confidence does the United States have at this point that these six groups can actually work together in a cohesive manner? And also, how do you view them in terms of viability as a serious opposition to Saddam? MR. REEKER: I think our goal has been to work with as broad an array of Iraqi opposition as possible. As you know, that has been something we've done for some time. We are trying to establish a process to give a voice to Iraqi experts. We have been doing that not only with the contacts that we've had, with the meeting that we'll have tomorrow hosted by Under Secretary Grossman, but also with the working group meetings that we've had with a variety of experts who can look at the future of Iraq, because obviously there will be a post-Saddam era and there are many that want to look at how to shape Iraq for that era when they are pulled out of the darkness that they have lived under with Saddam Hussein and his cronies. So we want to work with these groups. We have extensive contacts with them. We want them to work together for common goals which will benefit the people of Iraq and the region and the peace and security of the whole world. And that is what our meetings are about. That is what we're going to talk to these representatives about when we meet with them tomorrow. And we will continue to discuss next steps and how we can coordinate with them and how they can cooperate among themselves. (end excerpt) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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