Allawi nominated transitional Iraqi PM
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| Fri, 05-28-2004 - 2:58pm |
Interesting....
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iraq%20Politics
Friday, May 28, 2004 · Last updated 11:10 a.m. PT
Allawi nominated as transitional Iraqi PM
By HAMZA HENDAWI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Iraqi Governing Council on Friday chose one of its members, Iyad Allawi, a Shiite Muslim and former exiled opponent of Saddam Hussein, to become prime minister in the new government taking power June 30.
The announcement came as a surprise to the United Nations, which has been leading the process of choosing the government. But U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi "respects" the decision and is willing to work with Allawi to pick the rest of the government, a U.N. spokesman in New York said.
However, Brahimi left some question marks around the selection, saying Allawi must have support from a broad Iraqi political spectrum. "Let's see what the Iraqi street has to say about this name before we decide to write it off," spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
The announcement "is not how we expected it to happen ... but the Iraqis seem to agree on this candidate and if they do, Mr. Brahimi is ready to work with this candidate," Eckhard said.
"In the end, it's the Governing Council and the (U.S.-led coalition) that will make the decision," he said.
The White House insisted the council choice was only one of many recommendations being made to Brahimi.
After council members announced Allawi, Brahimi joined the council meeting in Baghdad. The council decided not to nominate a president and two vice presidents as well on Friday, as they had planned.
Brahimi is scheduled to announce the lineup of the new government, including 26 Cabinet members, by Monday.
Allawi would appear far from the qualities Brahimi had been seeking for the government's top spots: local, non-political "technocrats" respected by Iraqis. Allawi, in contrast, is a veteran political leader who lived in exile for decades.
But after weeks of speaking of empowering Iraqis, it may be difficult to reverse the public announcement by the Iraqi council.
"It is a done deal," Hameed al-Kafaei, the spokesman for the Governing Council, said. Allawi "is a prime minister-designate."
The selection of Allawi was unanimous among the 20 council members present or represented at Friday's meeting, members said. Ahmad Chalabi, a longtime favorite of the Pentagon, was not present but his representative voted in favor of Allawi, attendants said.
Two other other Shiite members - Salama al-Khafaji and Abdul-Karim al-Mohammedawi - were not present or represented. The council, which originally had 25 members, currently has 22 members after the assassination this month of Izzedine Saleem and the transfer of two others to Cainbet positions.
Council members saw Allawi as best positioned to deal with Iraq's deteriorating security situation, members said.
Allawi's "nomination has a great deal to do with security since it's ... our main problem," Othman told The Associated Press. Allawi "has been in charge of security matters in the council since its inception. He is the best available choice."
Allawi's security credentials were boosted because his party, the Iraqi National Accord, is made up of former military officers who had defected from Saddam's regime, said Allawi's aide, Ibrahim al-Janabi.
His relative, Ali Allawi, is Iraqi defense minister.
The chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, was at Friday's council session and congratulated Allawi on his nomination, said al-Marayati.
But White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the council was only "one of many groups that have made some recommendations to Mr. Brahimi."
The council members "expressed their view ... on who they would like to see as the prime minister," U.S. spokesman Dan Senor said in Baghdad. "A formal announcement will come presumably from Mr. Brahimi in the days ahead."
Asked if Brahimi accepts Allawi as the prime minister-designate, Eckhard told reporters, "he respects this decision and he's ready to work with this person."
Brahimi has been consulting with the council, the U.S.-led coalition and other Iraqi political factions for weeks and had presented names - including Allawi's - to the council to consider, Eckhard said.
"I think Mr. Brahimi's original idea probably was to announce the full government once all the positions had been agreed on," he said. But now that the council has picked Allawi, Brahimi will work with him to "discuss all the other names ... as we consider who the other members of the interim government should be."
Allawi, a Shiite neurologist and businessman involved in the opposition since the 1970s, has long been seen as a rival of Chalabi, though they worked together in coordinating between anti-Saddam exile groups.
While living in London in 1978, Allawi survived an assassination attempt believed to have been ordered by Saddam.
The Iraqi National Accord, which Allawi founded along with former military officers, advocated a coup against Saddam but an attempt in 1996 failed.
Nonetheless, Allawi continued to have strong support within the State Department, CIA and Britain's MI-6 intelligence service, where officials were wary of Pentagon favorite Chalabi.
After Saddam's ouster, U.S. occupation officials gave Allawi as one of the 25 seats on the Governing Council. Over the past year, Allawi has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying in Washington to press his influence, more than any other council member.
Chalabi fell out of favor in recent months after his information about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction was discredited.
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The following quote, if I'm understanding it correctly, states the announcement took both the US CPA & Brahimi my surprise.
>"The announcement appeared to take the United Nations -- which had sent envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to help put together an interim government before the handoff date -- and the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority by surprise."<
Quote from.... http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/28/iraq.main/index.html
Is this something the Iraqi Governing Council has intended as a show of power? Instead of waiting for the June 30th handover.
Quote from NWtreehugger's article........
>"Allawi has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying in Washington to press his influence, more than any other council member."<
This doesn't bode well for
Is this something the Iraqi Governing Council has intended as a show of power? Instead of waiting for the June 30th handover.
That was what I was wondering as well...a power play...flexing muscles?
Having said that, he does have some credibility to possibly most Iraquis because he did go against Saddam and did pay a price for it. Since the IGC stood up united and voted for him instead of waiting for Brahini(sp) from the UN to pick someone for them they may have shown some backbone for their own country?
Also he is a Shi'ite and it's very likely the Cleric Sastani will support him?
>"At the time, Theros rejected suggestions that Allawi's contracts with his firm and others -- totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars -- were designed to help counterbalance the extensive lobbying campaign by Ahmed Chalabi, who made a career out of ousting Saddam.
Chalabi and Allawi -- who like many Shiites of prominent families are related by marriage -- have been alternately rivals and allies. Chalabi had a bitter breakup with the CIA in the 1990s but became close with the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, Allawi and his Iraqi National Accord organization have solid relationships with the CIA and State Department.
Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman for Chalabi, said the two men had disagreed on how to overthrow Saddam -- Allawi wanted a coup, Chalabi sought outside intervention -- and on whether former members of Saddam's Baath party should be involved in the new government. Chalabi had strongly opposed that."<
Quote from......... http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/28/allawi.profile.ap/
The man Brahimi(?) selected refused because the IGC refused to recognize him. Ali al Sistani was very close with this man so I don't think the Shias will take too kindly when an exiled millionaire takes over the reigns. This is just my surmise, but it sure does sound like the US is still pulling the strings.
>"
No, and we're suspicious as are the Iraqi's.
Allawi nomination evokes mixed feelings
By Ahmed Janabi
The nomination of former Baathist Iyad Allawi as Iraq's interim prime minister has evoked mixed feelings inside Iraq.
"First of all the man has a bad reputation among Iraqis for his US-UK links. Also, there is resentment because Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party has a large number of former Baathists," said Aljazeera correspondent in Baghdad Atwar Bahjat.
"However, because of his relative success in dealing with the security issue in Iraq, a considerable number of Iraqis support his nomination, hoping he would restore security and stability," Bahjat said.
'Best choice available'
Iraqi pan-Arab nationalist Haroun Muhammad believes that Iyad Allawi is the finest selection available among the Iraqi Governing Council's (IGC) Shia block.
"If we compare him to other Shia figures like Abd Al-Azizi Al-Hakim, Mowafaq al-Rubaie, Muhammad Bahr al-Oloum...etc. He is the best. He enjoys a pan-Arab nationalism background, and he is a secular Arab Muslim Shia," Muhammad told Aljazeera.net.
"He is the only IGC Shia member who enjoys normal and warm relations with Arab countries like Jordan, Syria and Egypt, while other IGC Shia members do not. They have strong relations only with Iran.
"I worked with him. I set up for him a radio station in Jordan in the 1990s; it was an Iraqi opposition radio station. I can say that he has no sectarian leanings."
Fawzi Farman, the secretary-general of the Gathering of Iraqi Independents said the nomination was a powerful blow to conservative Shia and the Iranian-backed Shia bloc.
"Allwai's nomination pleased the secularists, technocrats, and professionals. But obviously it angered hardline Shia politicians like Al-Hakim and Bahr al-Oloum," he said.
US nomination
Iraqi politicians dismissed media reports suggesting the nomination was made by the IGC, saying Allawi was nominated by the US.
Haroun Muhammad believes it was a result of an understanding between the US and the United Nations.
"Ambassador Robert Blackwell, who is an advisor to Condoleezza Rice, has been in Baghdad since two months, and the nomination came after discussions between him and UN's special envoy to Iraq Al Akhdhar al-Ibrahimi," he said.
Aljazeera correspondence confirmed that IGC members dissociated themselves from Allawi's appointment.
"A number of IGC members speaking on condition of anonymity said it was a US nomination. They said the US brought down its ally al-Chalabi, and selected its other ally, Allawi," the correspondent said.
Spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, Dr Muhammad Ayash said the nomination changes nothing on the ground.
"The fact that the rulers of Iraq are appointed by an occupation force taints Allawi's nomination," he said.
"We are clear about what we want. We want the US-led occupation forces out of Iraq, so that Iraqi people would choose their government themselves. Iraqis will remain suspicious about any official appointed by US occupation," Ayash said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8BDE37F6-207B-446B-B545-5C09E55E3280.htm