Iraqi Opposition to Saddam Hussein - Controlled
by Pro-Iranian Group?
December 18, 2002
International News Analysis Today Exclusive Report
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2002 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
A stormy conference of Iraqi opposition leaders just
held in London has led to the domination of anti-Saddam
activities by a pro-Iranian Islamic group. Iran is one
of the nations defined as part of the "axis of evil,"
and a opponent of the U.S. since its Islamic revolution
overthrew the American backed Shah in 1979.
The London conference of opposition groups was backed
by the U.S. in an effort to unite rival anti-Saddam
groups, sometimes as hostile to each other as to the
regime in Baghdad.
The conference, originally scheduled for two days,
lasted four, with exchanges so heated, that at one point
U.S. President George Bush's envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad
walked out of one of the sessions.
The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq
(SCIRI) gained control of the 65 member committee established
at the London conference coordinating relations between
the anti-Saddam groups with foreign nations, according
to a recent British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report.
The SCIRI is based in Teheran, the capital of Iran,
and receives a steady flow of journalists and foreign
diplomats. The SCIRI is led by the sometimes anti-American
Ayatollah Sayed Mohamad Baqir al-Hakim, who fled to
Iran in 1980.
The highly respected French news daily, Le Figaro,
describes al-Hakim in terms of a political chameleon,
able to adapt to his surroundings, in this case Iran.
Al-Hakim "seems to have evolved his politics to the
liking of his Iranian hosts," states Le Figaro.
Although now part of the U.S. led coalition against
Saddam Hussein, Al Hakim had earlier publicly condemned
the United States, stating that "we do not put confidence
in the Americans, they have always acted against the
interests of the Iraqi people," according to Le Figaro.
Al-Hakim's position on an American attack upon Iraq
has shifted between hatred and cooperation, apparently
based upon circumstances, making statements "sometimes
condemning…sometimes supporting" the expected U.S. assault
against the Baghdad regime, according to an opponent
quoted in Le Figaro.
While al-Hakim's true regard for the United States
is unclear, the SCIRI is consistent in its hostility
to Saddam Hussein, and in its campaign of subversion
against the Baghdad regime.
Le Figaro estimates that the SCIRI has 8,000 resistance
fighters in Iraq, while the SCIRI claims that it has
"secret cells all over Iraq…involved in gathering information,
media work, and military activities," according to a
statement on their
Internet site.
The SCIRI's active cells within Iraq gave the organization
an advantage over its political rivals at the anti-Saddam
London conference, since most of the anti-Saddam groups
present do not have an identifiable support base in
Iraq.
A news report from Deutsche Welle, the official broadcasting
service of the German government, observed that, since
"the majority of opposition leaders have spent years
abroad, it is unclear to what extent they are even supported
within Iraq."
The SCIRI, however, is not the only group with operative
cells in Iraq. The Iraqi Communist Party is a small,
but a well-organized entity in Iraq, and will let its
presence be known in any election following Saddam's
overthrow.
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