Iraqi opposition meets with US officials
Iraq-USA, Politics, 5/25/1999

An Iraqi opposition delegation met yesterday with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Washington. Senior US administration officials briefing reporters after the meeting said the delegation would spend the rest of the week meeting with US officials and think tanks.

The officials said there are "credible reports of trouble" in Saddam Hussein's family and the Iraqi Republican Guard, as well as a "full-blown rebellion in the south which he [Hussein] seems incapable of suppressing."

The officials said that the opposition is trying to set out a "post-Saddam agenda," adding that opposition unity is "coming together more quickly than we expected." They noted, however that Hamid Bayati of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq did not attend.

The officials also indicated that the United States would be willing to work with a new Iraqi government to ease Iraqi debts, saying the US would work to "relieve that burden."

US State Department spokesman James Rubin said that there will be a major meeting of the Iraqi opposition in July, adding that the venue has not yet been set for that meeting.

He said that yesterday's meeting with the Iraqi opposition was "to learn their plans for the recovery of Iraq." He said the US administration would send to the legislature a plan for "non-lethal equipment and training under the Iraq Liberation Act." He said there would be three areas of support addressed in the plan: "The establishment of an opposition headquarters and satellite offices; training; and public advocacy on behalf of the Iraqi people."

He said that the non-lethal equipment for the opposition would be "equipment from existing Department of Defense inventories that can be used to help them organize themselves and create a more unified front and to be in a better position to get their message out to the Iraqis, who we believe are supportive of their goals."

He said the monetary amount of such aid has not yet been determined, adding that he is not certain whether the funds would come from $97 million already allocated for military aid. He said that the US is not yet ready to begin providing lethal aid to the Iraqi opposition, saying, "There are a number of steps that have to be taken before we're in a position to provide lethal assistance. One priority, which is what we're trying to meet through this effort, is the strengthening of an Iraqi opposition movement that can lay out solid plans for the post-Saddam recovery in all sectors of national life." He added that yesterday's meeting was expected to be "a critical step in that direction."

Rubin said, "There are certain criteria for those who need to receive support, and they include support -- those groups that support democracy, those groups that support the territorial integrity of Iraq, those groups that support human rights, and have a broad similarity to Western and American goals for a democratic, free and tolerant Iraq."

"We believe it has broad-based representation of a wide group including throughout Iraq," Rubin said.

Members of the delegation representing the interim leadership of the Iraqi National Congress included Latif Rashid from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Hoshyar Zebari from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord, Ahmed Chalabi, Sunni independent Riyad al Yawir, former Iraqi minister Adnan Pachachi, Sharif Ali bin Al Hussein of the Constitutional Monarchy Party, Hatem Mukhless, Muzhaffer Arslan, retired Gen. Hassan al-Naquib, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, and spokesman Saleh Shaikhly.

Previous Stories:
  Iraqi opposition delegation starts program in Washington   (5/24/1999)
  Rubin: US invited Iraqi opposition   (5/22/1999)
  Iraqi opposition delegation prepares for meeting with Albright, Berger   (5/19/1999)

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