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Pachachi blames Chalabi for not becoming Iraq president

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, June 4, IRNA - Member of the US-appointed Iraqi governing 
council, Adnan Pachachi, has blamed a "shabby conspiracy" led by his 
colleague Ahmad Chalabi for wrecking his candidacy to be the 
country`s interim president. 
Pachachi, who was widely tipped to become Iraq`s new president, 
also insisted that it was not him but the successful candidate, 
Sheikh Ghazi Ajil al-Yawar, who was Washington`s choice. 
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper Friday, the 81-year 
old former diplomat said the UN`s special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar 
Brahimi, offered him the job as president last weekend. 
"Mr Brahimi told me I had more support than anybody to be 
president. He said I was by far the most qualified person," Pachachi 
said but claimed that he was forced to turndown the job after a revolt
among members of the Iraqi governing council instigated by Chalabi. 
Pachachi, who was speaking in the United Arab Emirates, said that 
Chalabi did it out of "jealousy and personal pique." He said "the 
whole thing was a shabby conspiracy." 
Pachachi said he decided to turn down the job after Arab TV 
networks unfairly portrayed him as an US stooge and Washington`s 
preferred candidate. 
"There is a great deal of disinformation that I was the preferred 
candidate of the US. Nothing could be further from the truth," said 
Pachachi, who served as Iraq`s foreign minister during the 1960s. 
But he insisted that the US had in fact secretly wanted Sheikh 
Ghazi to get the job. He suggested that the Sheikh should not have 
got involved and should have said instead: `Look, I`m not interested. 
Support Pachachi.` 
During his interview, the former diplomat also conceded that 
Iraq`s main Shia groups, including the Supreme Council for Islamic 
Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), had also opposed his candidacy. 
This, he suggested, was because he was against the idea of Iraq 
turning into a "religious state", when a new elected government has 
to ratify a post-Saddam constitution later next year. 
After failing to become president, Pachachi said he intended to 
travel to Britain in the next few days and do "something quite 
different". He said he had had enough of Iraqi politics. 
"I`m going to have a good holiday for a couple of months and see 
my daughter who lives in London. We`ll go to some theatre in London. 
We`ll also visit some music festivals in Europe," he said. 
HC/1771