28 April 2003
Boucher: Choice of New Government in Iraq "Belongs to the Iraqi People"
(April 28 Baghdad meeting "advances the national dialogue among Iraqis") (940) State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher told the news media on April 28 that the choice of a new government in Iraq "belongs to the Iraqi people." He was speaking at the State Department daily briefing. Boucher said over 250 Iraqi representatives, from various levels of Iraqi society and ethnic groups, from inside Iraq and from the expatriate and opposition communities, convened in Baghdad "to advance the national dialogue among Iraqis regarding composition of an Iraqi interim authority." Also at the Baghdad meeting were U.S. Presidential Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad,, Office of Reconstruction Director Jay Garner, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ryan Crocker. The Baghdad meeting builds upon the historic April 15 meeting held near Nasiriya. "That was the first of several meetings designed to provide Iraqis their own forum to discuss their visions for the future, participation in the Iraqi interim authority, and how best to chart a course towards democratic government," Boucher said. The U.S. expects that the interim authority that results from this process will be broad-based, and fully representative, Boucher said, including members from all of Iraq's ethnic groups, regions and the diaspora. Following are the State Department spokesman's remarks on the April 28 Baghdad meeting: (begin excerpt) QUESTION: Do you have any read-out from the meeting in Baghdad, the Iraqi meeting from the Garner group, anything you can tell us about? MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I have any particular read-out. I can tell you about it going into the process. I thought I heard one of the networks saying that the meeting, itself, with General Garner, on behalf of the meeting, might have something to say soon, so that may be the first read-out we all get. But their meeting today in Baghdad is attending or Presidential Envoy Khalilzad Office of Reconstruction Director, Jay Garner, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ryan Crocker, they are meeting with a broad range of Iraqis including representatives from the Shia, Sunni, Turkomen, Assyrian, and Kurdish communities from both inside Iraq and from the expatriate and opposition communities. There are over 250 representatives there reflecting various levels of Iraqi society including intellectuals and academics tribal sheikhs, Iraqi bureaucrats and technocrats, clerics, opposition parties and former resistance leaders inside the country, and they're convening to advance the national dialogue among Iraqis regarding composition of an Iraqi interim authority. The meeting builds on its -- on the successes of the historic April 15th meeting in Nasiriya. That was the first of several meetings intended to provide Iraqis their own forum to discuss their visions for the future, participation in the Iraqi interim authority, and how best to chart a course towards democratic government. We expect that the interim authority that results from this process will be broad-based and fully representative, with members of all Iraq's ethnic groups, regions and the diaspora. We expect these meetings will culminate in a nationwide conference to be held in Baghdad, and that that conference will form the Iraqi interim authority. We are pleased that after more than 20 years of suffering under a corrupt and brutal regime, the Iraq people are able to enjoy freedom of religion and freedom of speech and expression. As President Bush had said, the United States has no intention of determining the precise form of Iraq's new government; that choice clearly belongs to the Iraqi people. Eli. QUESTION: Just two questions, Richard. Can you give us any information about a proposed meeting on would of a smaller group of exile leaders? And also, can you tell us if you've had any participation in this meeting from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq? MR. BOUCHER: Each of the groups that are potentially involved in the future of Iraq is making their own decisions about participating. As I said, there were some 250 representatives from all walks of Iraqi society -- from inside Iraq, from outside Iraq, from the different religious groups, from different professions, from different kind of leaders throughout the country. I don't think -- I'm not sure that particular group attended, frankly, but that was their decision. Our point is that this is a very broadly representative group of people who are now meeting together and working on the future of Iraq. As far as what meetings on Wednesday, no, I don't have anything particular on that. QUESTION: Well, it's been reported in The Washington Post over the weekend, and other people have reported it -- MR. BOUCHER: I think what I've seen reported is that some of the leaders who had been meeting outside in Sulaimaniya were going to have some kind of meeting. QUESTION: Right. MR. BOUCHER: But that would be up to them. QUESTION: But is that something that the U.S. is in any way going to be participating in, or in any way -- I'm just -- it's very confusing with all these different meetings and what they all mean. MR. BOUCHER: It's -- I know, it's great. But, you know, that's politics. That's democracy. People are getting together. They're meeting together. They're trying to work together. And the fact that we have so many people coming together now in Baghdad to work on the future of Iraq -- and they are from inside and outside Iraq, they're from the different groups, the different areas of Iraq, they're from different walks of life -- this is important. These are the people who can really help Iraq run itself and take over Iraq for its own future. (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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