|
Relations between Iraq's Shi'ite-led United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA) and the U.S. government continued to
sour this week following allegations that
U.S.-backed Iraqi forces opened fire on a group of
worshippers inside a Baghdad mosque on March 26. The
incident follows months of increasing tension
between the UIA and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
Shi'ite supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told
RFE/RL on March 28 that they are now pushing for
Khalilzad's resignation. UIA members Baha al-Araji
and Abbas al-Bayati denied the claim, telling RFE/RL's
Radio Free Iraq (RFI) on March 28 that they do not
want Khalilzad to resign, but they cautioned that
the ambassador should take a less aggressive
approach.
Nevertheless, the crisis threatens to further stall
the political process. Shi'ite leaders suspended
talks with other parties on the forming a new Iraqi
government on March 27.
Clashes Over Shi'ite Intransigence
Relations between Khalilzad and the UIA have been
worsening for months. In October, Shi'ite leaders
resisted the ambassador's pressure to meet some
Sunni Arab demands over the draft constitution in an
effort to bring them on board prior to the
constitutional referendum. The Shi'a grudgingly
capitulated after the Kurds negotiated an agreement
allowing for the draft to be reviewed during the
next government's first four months. But soon after,
Shi'ite politicians began suggesting that they might
renege on that agreement.
In November, Shi'ite leaders resisted attempts to
bring some Sunni Arab groups into the mainstream
political dialogue at the Arab League-sponsored
meeting on national reconciliation in Cairo.
The same month, Khalilzad strongly criticized the
Shi'ite-managed Interior Ministry after U.S. forces
uncovered a torture chamber inside a ministry prison
in Baghdad. Khalilzad has since said that the
ministry, currently run by Shi'ite leader Bayan Jabr,
should be free of sectarian tendencies. Jabr has
labeled such comments "interference."
Khalilzad has since supported calls by Sunni and
Kurdish leaders rejecting the UIA's nomination of
Ibrahim al-Ja'fari to retain the premiership,
drawing further fire from the Shi'a, who alleged
that the United States is trying to influence the
shape of the next Iraqi government.
The Shi'a also resisted postelection proposals for
the formation of a national-unity government.
Khalilzad's pressure on the Shi'a prompted Prime
Minister al-Ja'fari to tell reporters on February 21
that any decision to form a national-unity
government would not be done "in compliance with the
demand by an ambassador or something like that" but
rather because Iraqis chose so.
When Khalilzad claimed that Iran was wielding too
much influence on Shi'ite political parties, UIA
leaders countered by saying the claims were part of
a U.S. effort to lessen the alliance's power in the
government.
Now, Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in
Iraq (SCIRI) member Rida Jawad Taqiy has claimed
that U.S. President George W. Bush has personally
tried to intervene in that process. "George Bush
sent a letter via Khalilzad to Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim,
as head of the alliance, telling him that George
Bush does not wish or want Ibrahim al-Ja'fari to be
prime minister," Reuters quoted Taqiy as saying on
March 28. An unidentified spokeswoman for the U.S.
Embassy denied the claim, the news agency reported.
U.S. Credibility Threatened
As the crisis between the UIA and the United States
intensifies, the United States stands to lose more
credibility among Iraqis. Shi'ite-dominated media,
including state-run Al-Iraqiyah television, have
devoted much of their broadcasting this week to the
March 26 operation, sparking further anticoalition
sentiment in the streets.
The UIA views its position in the government as its
natural right, as the alliance that represents the
majority of Iraqis, and after winning the December
parliamentary elections. Its rejection of power
sharing through a national-unity government can be
seen in this light.
However, the UIA is probably willing to compromise
on some sort of power-sharing agreement (its leaders
claim they support a national-unity government) but
would only be willing to do so on its terms. That
means maintaining control of key ministries,
including the Interior Ministry and the Oil
Ministry.
With regard to Iran, the UIA sees Iraq's eastern
neighbor as an ally rather than a threat, and views
the U.S. rhetoric as part of the 27-year standoff
between those two countries rather than any real
threat to Iraq's security. Moreover, given the UIA's
historic relationship with Iran, which sheltered the
UIA leadership from Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and
1990s, the alliance is not likely to subscribe to
the U.S. point of view on Iran anytime soon.
To the UIA, Iran offers a counterweight to the
Ba'athist insurgency. As SCIRI head Abd al-Aziz
al-Hakim told CNN this week, Iran is important to
Iraq's security. "First of all, they've got strong
and capable security forces. They can help in
controlling the borders," he was quoted on March 27
as saying. "Secondly, they've got a lot of
information that would benefit Iraq regarding
terrorism operations. And third, we can benefit from
the experiences of all neighboring countries."
As more information comes to light regarding the
March 26 U.S.-Iraqi military operation, Iraqis may
further question U.S. goals in Iraq. RFI reported
that the operation was carried out by Iraqi commando
forces linked to the army, but separately trained
and working under U.S. military control.
"What these forces have done is considered an
organized crime that has serious political and
security dimensions that seek to trigger civil war
to serve political ends aimed at manipulating
current political formulas during critical political
circumstances" surrounding the formation of a
national government, Islamic Al-Da'wah Party member
Jawad al-Maliki told reporters at a March 27 press
briefing in Baghdad, RFI reported the same day.
Conflicting Accounts Of Attack
According to Shi'ite leaders, U.S. forces entered a
mosque on March 26, tied up the worshippers,
tortured some, and then opened fire on them, killing
at least 16. The U.S. military denies the charges,
saying that the military operation targeted a
building complex, not the mosque in question, adding
that military forces only opened fire after being
fired upon by insurgents holed up inside the
building.
"U.S. troops besieged the Al-Mustafa Husayniyah [Shi'ite
religious center] in the Al-Sha'b area [of Baghdad].
They stormed the husayniyah and besieged
worshippers. There is an office for the [Islamic]
Al-Da'wah Party in this husayniyah as well. The U.S.
troops went in and opened fire on the worshippers
who were in one room, resulting in the martyrdom of
16 to 17 people. Three were wounded. Afterward, the
U.S. troops detained the rest of the worshippers in
the husayniyah," Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji, a spokesman
for Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, told Al-Arabiyah
television on March 26.
"The building complex that was attacked was blocks
away from the Mustafa Mosque. This operation was led
by Iraqis who confirmed that this was not a mosque,
and at no time did they enter any mosque or damage a
mosque in any way," U.S. Lieutenant General Peter
Chiarelli said in an undated press release on
mnf-iraq.com.
President Jalal Talabani said on March 27 that he
would head an investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, Baghdad's municipal council has suspended
all contacts with U.S. forces to protest the
operation.
www.rferl.org
Top |
® 