06 November 2002
U.S. Supports Planned Meeting of Iraqi Opposition Groups in Brussels
(State's Boucher appeals to groups to operate in open, democratic manner) (730) State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher told journalists that the United States hopes a November 22 conference of Iraqi opposition group leaders in Brussels will have "the widest possible representation" and will operate in an "open and democratic manner." "Open and democratic discussions are often noisy and messy, but they're the best way to arrive at some kind of solution that can meet the needs of all the various groups and parties inside and outside Iraq," said Boucher, speaking at the November 6 State Department briefing. Boucher said the Bush Administration views the meeting of the Constitutional Monarchist Movement, Iraqi National Accord, the Iraqi National Congress, Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq as "important," and hopes that the discussions will lead to a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq with a system "that can be broad based and that can have a role for all the different people inside Iraq." Following is an excerpt from Boucher's November 6 State Department briefing with his comments about the meeting: (begin excerpt) QUESTION: The Iraqi American author Kanan Makiye sent an e-mail yesterday to senior State Department officials urging them to try to use their influence to call off the November 22nd Iraqi opposition conference in Brussels. He claims it's a sham conference that would grant 40 percent of the votes to an Iranian-backed opposition group called SCIRI and doesn't really have room for true Iraqi democrats. Do you care to respond? MR. BOUCHER: There have been -- as you know, we've been working with six different opposition groups on the issue of the future of Iraq. And they've been working, in particular, with each other attempting to organize conferences and make progress towards examining the future of Iraq from a constitutional and democratic basis. We had a meeting on August 9th with Under Secretary Marc Grossman, Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith and other US officials where we asked the leaders of these groups to work together to hold a broad-based conference of the Iraqi opposition. The groups are the -- we've met with the leaders of the Constitutional Monarchist Movement, the Iraqi National Accord, the Iraqi National Congress, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Six leaders agreed to do so. They've been working over the past few months to organize such an event. Our understanding is that there are still differences among the Iraqi opposition as to the proposed conference. We expect them to work out these problems in an open and democratic manner. It is a matter of discussion with the administration and we'll be keeping in touch with them as far as our thoughts and how they can work this out so that we have a conference that has the widest possible representation and the best possible outcomes in terms of moving forward together towards planning a future for Iraq that doesn't suffer from the current regime. QUESTION: Since Iran is the topic, I've got just one follow-up. MR. BOUCHER: We're on the topic since you asked, didn't you? (Laughter.) QUESTION: I did raise it, sorry. Makiye's issue in these e-mails that he writes is he really thinks that it's moving towards these discussions in a post-Saddam Iraq, towards a kind of ethnic federalism -- that there would be a certain guarantee of a number of seats or percentage to different ethnic groups in Iraq, and he wants it to be something else. Do you have a position on this question, which is his big issue? MR. BOUCHER: Our position is that fundamentally the future of government in Iraq needs to be worked out by Iraqis both outside and inside the country, that these discussions are important. Open and democratic discussions are often noisy and messy, but they are the best way to arrive at some kind of solution that can meet the needs of all the various groups and parties inside and outside Iraq. So we encourage them to work together. To the extent that we can be helpful and present ideas or make suggestions that can help them work together, we want to do that. But fundamentally, these issues need to be resolved among Iraqis and they need to come up with a system that can be broad-based and that can have a role for all the different people inside Iraq. (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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