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Iraq
Saddam ’alive and in Iraq’; Chalabi disses UN, Jordan, Shia Islamo-nuts
2003-04-21
For a change, justified use of scare quotes by Auntie...
Saddam Hussein and at least one of his sons are being tracked as they move around Iraq, an opposition leader has told the BBC. Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress says his supporters have not yet caught up with the ousted dictator but reports of his movements arrive within "12 to 24 hours". Mr Chalabi once tried to initiate an uprising against Saddam Hussein but repeated that he did not seek a high political post in the new Iraq. He added that he doubted that Iraqis would welcome a significant role for the United Nations, saying the body was viewed as a "de facto ally" of the old regime.
They should know.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Chalabi said his intelligence suggested Saddam Hussein was still in Iraq, and was on the move. While supporters had not yet managed to catch up with the wanted former leader, Mr Chalabi said: "We are aware of his movements between 12 and 24 hours after he has been there. We received intelligence about his son Qusay yesterday," he said. "The night before he was seen in Aadhamiya."
Either Sammy and Qusay or a pair of their doubles...
Mr Chalabi, 58, repeated his denials that he wanted a high-profile political role in the country he fled as a boy in 1956. He was flown into Iraq by US forces a few days before the fall of Baghdad and has the support of Vice-President Dick Cheney and a number of other leaders in the Bush administration. But he told James Naughtie that he preferred less of a prominent role than in the mid-1990s when he tried to organise an uprising against Saddam Hussein in northern Iraq. "I have waited all my life to come home," he said. "I want to work on building civil society as a basis for democracy." He said he was confident a liberal democracy would work in Iraq, though he has had to travel encircled by private armed guards since returning. "People are fed up with totalitarianism and repression... They think they have won against Saddam," he said. "[They] feel victorious... which is ironic because there is a foreign army here. But they feel that they are the allies of the foreign army."

Mr Chalabi said the apparent rise of Shia clerics as local leaders and political organisers was a "distorted view". "No-one has control over towns... over streets. It is a euphoria of expression [where] piety becomes a political act because [the people] have been denied that." It was a transitory movement with "no momentum", he said.

Any UN ambition to take a role in rebuilding Iraq would not be popular, Mr Chalabi said. "The Iraqi people view the UN as a de facto ally of Saddam" because they had seen UN Secretary General Kofi Annan "smoking a cigar with Saddam", he said. "The reality of the situation will imply that the UN cannot have a role."

Mr Chalabi has been dogged by a past conviction in Jordan for embezzlement and false accounting that led to the collapse of his Petra Bank. But he said: "Everybody knows [the conviction] was a naked act of aggression, of the Jordan Government acting on behalf of Saddam." He pledged to soon provide evidence that the conviction was unsound.
Would be helpful if you could, Chabbers.
Posted by:Bulldog

#14  The New Republic

Kanan Makiya, an INC exile, on his meeting with locals in Nassariyah.

"The much-vaunted divide between the so-called "exiles" and the so-called "authentic Iraqis" who never left Baathist Iraq, never materialized, as the near-unanimity on the de-Baathification question demonstrated. This was contrary to years of soi disant expert analysis from the State Department and the CIA. It turned out that many of the "internals" knew who Kanan Makiya was, and even, God forbid, liked a thing or two that he had to say. Why, they even mentioned his name in pleasant tones from the podium. "
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 15:50:27  

#13  Meanwhile, in the sunny Syrian seacoast town of Latakia...
http://www.cs.sunyit.edu/~riesbed/fark/fark_weekend.jpg
Posted by: mojo   2003-04-21 15:43:11  

#12  so post war Germany was governed by a mix of locals and exiles. In Iraq something like 20% of the population went into exile (in contrast to Germany, where, IIRC, few other than Jews and communists went into exile.) So naturally the exiles will play a larger role in Iraq.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 15:41:34  

#11  Yes Brandt lived in exile in Norway
Posted by: True German Ally   2003-04-21 15:14:21  

#10  am i confusing Adenauer with Willy Brandt?
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 14:24:07  

#9  No Adenauer lived inside Germany, had problems with the Gestapo but didn't join open resistance. You could say he survived.
Posted by: True German Ally   2003-04-21 14:03:08  

#8  liberalhawk: Pachachi looks like this month's flavor of "moderate Taliban" -- a "Zionist lobby" nut who hangs with a bad crowd (nb: including the Saudis).

TGA: the only folks calling Chalabi a puppet seem to be in Foggy Bottom.
Posted by: someone   2003-04-21 22:37:39  

#7  uh TGA, wasnt Adenauer an exile?

In any case we had more time in Germany. In Iraq we have heavy pressure to have an Iraqi govt fairly soon.

Is Chalabi seen as a US puppet - why dont we wait and see what Iraqis say. Some do see him so - but many of those would see anyone not a cleric that way. Kurds dont see him that way.
What do we mean by "an opposition guy"? That wasnt a job inside Iraq under Saddam. We either get a "reformed" Baathist, a cleric, or an exile - aint no other leadership that I can see. Chalabi has been outside longer than other exiles, but his INC includes many recent exiles and has had important contacts inside.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 13:15:14  

#6  I'm not very happy about this Chalabi guy. I mean he hasn't been in Iraq for decades and he won't be seen as anything else but an US puppet. I'd prefer by far that the US run the show for now. Let's see if there is an opposition guy (must be some left?) from Iraq who shows sense and a can do attitude. In Germany Adenauer emerged. Maybe there is one in Iraq, too?
Posted by: True German Ally   2003-04-21 12:54:32  

#5  centcom reported over weekend that water restored in Nassiriyah on 6 hour per day basis. 2 of 3 hospitals functioning, police and fire departments have started functioning. Still working on electric and sanitation
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 10:46:49  

#4  power - ap reports thats one plant in NE Baghdad, powering up one neighborhood (including traffic lights) and an oil refinery. US officer says 1% of city has power, maybe 10% in a few hours.

Vague reports that its better in southern cities, but nothing more specific.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 09:40:59  

#3  BBC reports Brits have restarted railroad service between Umm Qasr and Basra.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 09:20:04  

#2  reuters now reports electricity restored in parts of east Baghdad.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 09:10:27  

#1  today Josh marshall runs a column dissing Chalabi, and promising future columns explaining (defending?) why State and CIA distrust him. Meanwhile its not clear whether new self-proclaimed governor of Baghdad is connected to Chalabi or not.

There seem to be several powers emerging - A. INC - pro-US and those locals interested in working with them (including Kurds) - B. pro-Iranian Shiites - mainly clerics (not all of the clerics though) and their supporters C. Pachecho (sp?) pro-UN, and with some support from State.
D. Sunnis in Baghdad and Mosul, very nervous, many formerly close to regime, trying to find an angle neither pro-US nor pro-Iranian.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-21 09:08:17  

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