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Who’s who in post-conflict Iraq

The Pentagon has named Lt Gen Jay Garner, a retired US officer, as the man they want to be the de facto governor of post-war Iraq before an interim administration is established.

The Pentagon wants to establish 23 ministries each headed by an Iraqi but supported and directed by American “technical advisers”. The people below could be key figures in post-Saddam Iraq.

Lt Gen Jay Garner: A retired officer, who helped to set up the Kurdish safe haven after the last Gulf war.

Lt Gen Garner is currently in Kuwait preparing to establish what is being called the IIA (Iraqi interim authority). The plan is for the IIA to take over after what is supposed to be a 90-day period of US military rule.

Ahmed Chalabi: Hopes to be the new leader of Iraq. Has support at the Pentagon but also has powerful enemies elsewhere in Washington, London and Iraq.

Heads the main opposition group, the London-based Iraqi National Congress (INC). Mr Chalabi is an urbane British-educated 57-year-old former banker who has spent 30 years in exile. So far he has only been offered an advisory role in the finance ministry in the IIA. Currently in Nassiriya in the south, drumming up support.

Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim: Leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq which claims to represent the majority Shia. Currently in Tehran he says he plans to return to his homeland after 23 years in exile.

He was imprisoned and tortured as an opposition leader by the Ba’ath party regime in Iraq during the 1970s.

Jalal Talabani: Known to Kurds as Mam (uncle) Jalal, Talabani is a veteran of Iraqi Kurdish politics who has opposed successive governments in Baghdad for much of the last 40 years. He leads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).The PUK controls the eastern part of the self-rule area from Sulaymaniyah. It controls around 25,000 fighters.

He has been in regular contact with American officials and wants a federal Iraq in which the Kurds will run their own region.

James Woolsey: There are reports the former CIA director James Woolsey is being lined up to take over the information ministry in the interim authority. Mr Woolsey headed the CIA during the first two years of the Clinton administration.

Adnan Pachachi: An 80-year-old former Iraqi foreign minister now living in Abu Dhabi who recently gained backing of the White House as a Sunni elder statesman who could play a leading role in the post-Saddam aftermath, acceptable to Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states. He is currently an adviser to the United Arab Emirates government.

Massoud Barzani: Leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which rules the western part of the Kurdish self-rule area from the regional capital Irbil. Represents the more traditional, more tribal elements in Kurdish society, and controls a fighting force of up to 35,000.

Dr Ayad Allawi: Former member of the ruling Ba’ath party who left Baghdad and formed the opposition Iraq National Accord (INA) in 1976. Survived attempted assassination by Saddam’s agents in London. Claims support of hundreds of activists abroad and thousands of disillusioned government and party officials inside Iraq.INA has worked closely with CIA and MI6 and is said to have received covert US funding and money from Saudi Arabia.

Nagib Al Salihi: Former divisional commander of Saddam’s Republican Guard who defected in 1995. He heads the Iraqi Free Officers’ movement and is a Sunni. His following is hard to measure but his continued links with the Iraqi armed forces make him a potentially vital player. From his home in the Iraqi exile belt around Washington, he enjoys close relations with the CIA and the state department. Supported regime change. — Courtesy Guardian

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