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Dr Barham Saleh, Iraq's Deputy PM recalls
his time as a student in Wales
26.1.2008
by David Williamson
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January
26, 2008
One of the pivotal people shaping Iraq’s future
looks to Keir Hardie for inspiration.
Barham Saleh, the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq,
studied at Cardiff University in the 1980s and
describes the Welsh as a nation of “freedom
fighters”.
Iraqi democracy may face its greatest challenge yet
if, as many predict, the United States and Britain
begin major troop withdrawals after the US elections
in November.
Dr Saleh, who has already held the top position in
the Kurdistan regional government, is spoken of as a
future Iraqi PM. |
Dr. Barham Saleh Iraq's deputy premier |
He hit British headlines
this week when Tory culture spokesman Tobias Ellwood
said the Iraqi leader had told him British mosques
contained greater extremism than would be permitted
in Iraq.
Mr Saleh said his comments had been taken out of
context but warned, “Unfortunately, some extremists
have abused freedom of expression in democratic
societies to preach violence and isolation.”
During his years in Cardiff Dr Saleh and his brother
threw themselves into student life and championed
the cause of the Kurds. He addressed a Plaid Cymru
meeting,www.ekurd.net
joined the Labour Party
and formed a lifelong friendship with the journalist
Ann Clwyd, who would later become the MP for Cynon
Valley.
Ms Clwyd said yesterday, “I knew he was smart and
switched on. He was very well aware of what the
regime was doing but I never thought he would go
into politics.”
In 2004 he visited the university and then her
constituency to deliver the annual Keir Hardie
lecture at Cwmaman Hall – named in tribute to the
Merthyr Tydfil MP who became Labour’s first leader.
Visiting Wales, Dr Saleh said, was “like coming
home”.
“In 1980, when I came to Cardiff, I fled my
country,” he said. “I fled repression and tyranny.
Wales gave me a home, gave me an education and gave
me lifelong friendships that I cherish.
“I’m confident that the people of Wales are freedom
fighters and recognise freedom fighters around the
world and will support freedom and liberty.”
Describing Ms Clwyd as a “jewel”, he said, “She has
been the one moral voice of democracy for the people
of our country
for many years.”
The links with Wales continue. His daughter recently
had an internship in Ms Clwyd’s office.
This week he has attended the World Economic Forum
in Davos for the annual gathering of commercial
titans, statesmen,
and the occasional rock star and supermodel.
He told the audience, “I can say for the first time
in a long, long time that maybe Iraq is on the road
to win the battle against Islamic fanaticism and
religious extremism.”
It is unlikely Dr Saleh would have envisaged
mingling with the Davos set when he enlisted in the
underground Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) while
a teenager in 1976.
He was twice arrested by the Iraqi secret police and
forced to sit his high school exams while in prison.
In the 1990s – by now a leader in the PUK – he was
based in Washington DC and lobbied at the highest
level for the liberation of Iraq. In 2002, back in
the Kurdish region of Iraq,www.ekurd.net
he escaped death when
his home was attacked by members of the terrorist
group Ansar al-Islam; five of his staff were killed.
Despite the destruction that the invasion of 2003
unleashed he remains convinced it was right to
topple Saddam Hussein’s tyranny.
Ms Clwyd said, “I saw him just before Christmas.
He’s very confident there is light at the end of the
tunnel.
“That’s how I feel after my last visit. Things are
getting better in terms of security.
“People in Baghdad feel they can go out at night and
meet their friends.”
icwales.icnetwork co.uk
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