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Iraqi opposition nears deal on joint leadership as talks wind up

By Stefan Smith

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s opposition appeared close to naming a collective leadership it hopes will play a central role in any post-Saddam Hussein government as the disparate factions wrapped up key talks in the Kurdish rebel-held north Friday.

Officials said hours of delicate closed-door debate were expected to yield a six-member council in a bid to satisfy the demands of Iraq’s complex ethnic and political makeup and to present itself as a credible force to be reckoned with. The council was expected to consist of Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), former Iraqi foreign minister and independent Adnan Pachachi, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of the Tehran-based Shiite Supreme Assembly for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), and Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord.

Barzani and Talabani are Kurds who have been sharing control of the north of the country since they wrested autonomy from Saddam Hussein in 1991. Both have strong political and military credentials.

Al-Hakim is a conservative Shiite from a group backed by its own militia. Chalabi and Allawi, also Shiites, are considered to be secular and Washington-friendly. Only Pachachi is an Arab Sunni, the group that has dominated the country since its creation in 1922. Delegates have openly admitted that they have few credible representatives from this group.

An earlier proposal to appoint a three-man leadership — comprising a Kurd, a Shiite and an Sunni Arab — was apparently shelved for fear of provoking open competition between Barzani and Talabani for the Kurdish seat and al-Hakim and Chalabi for the Shiite slot.t.

The opposition has stopped short of naming a government in exile, but delegates said the leadership council would be pushed as a potential nucleus of a provisional government. Separate committees, roughly matching the various ministries, would also be formed and their members appointed.

But while the oppposition is largely upbeat that the days of its enemies in Baghdad are numbered, the discussions have been clouded by concerns that the United States will sideline them by installing a military administration headed by a US commander.

Furthermore, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who played a central role in the formation of a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan and was attending the meeting here, has asserted that the system put in place after Saddam is ousted needs to be more inclusive.

That has provoked fears that elements of Saddam’s Baath party could remain in power, a concept the opposition rejects.

The KDP and PUK have also voiced fears that Turkey may pour its troops into northern Iraq on the heels of US forces. On Thursday, the opposition threatened “serious consequences” if Turkey were to do so for any other reason than to fight Saddam Hussein, and appealed for three-way talks with Ankara and Washington to resolve the dispute.

In a bid to ease anger here over Turkey, Khalilzad issued a statement asserting that Turkish troops would be fully coordinated with the US-led coalition to oust Saddam Hussein. But his failure to rule out the entry of Turkish troops only compounded fears here, as many in the KDP and PUK had previously dismissed Ankara’s threats to send in troops as “posturing”. —AFP

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