[Peace-discuss] FW: Large Protests Greet US-Backed Talks on Post-Saddam Iraq

[Marianne Brun]

----------
Von: portsideMod at netscape.net
Antworten an: portside at yahoogroups.com
Datum: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 13:28:21 -0400
An: portside at yahoogroups.com
Betreff: Large Protests Greet US-Backed Talks on Post-Saddam Iraq

Large Protests Greet US-Backed Talks on Post-Saddam
Iraq

Published on Tuesday, April 15, 2003 by Agence France
Presse

Around 20,000 demonstrators converged on the southern
Iraqi city of Nasiriyah to protest US-brokered talks
aimed at sketching out a post-Saddam Hussein
administration.

The Pentagon said it was not yet prepared to declare
victory after 26 days of war, but US commanders
expressed hope Tuesday the main stage of hostilities
was over with the fall of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.

US officials switched their focus to neighbouring
Syria, alleging that Damascus has been developing
weapons of mass destruction, prompting calls for calm
from the United Nations, Arab and European governments.

The meeting in Nasiriyah was the first since the launch
of the war on March 20 and was billed as a major step
forward in the search for a new Iraqi leadership. But
the man tipped to become Iraq's next leader, Ahmad
Chalabi, head of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress,
was not due to attend.

Iraq's leading Shiite Muslim opposition group was also
boycotting the talks, amid distrust over the US role
and division over who should lead Iraq.

Chalabi, who has insisted he is not a candidate for a
post in the interim administration to be run by retired
US general Jay Garner, planned to send a
representative.

Dozens of representatives from Iraq's fractious mix of
ethnic, tribal and opposition groups, including those
formerly in exile, were said to be invited although no
official list was given. The New York Times quoted
Garner as saying his mission to rebuild Iraq's
political structures would be messy and contentious.

His fears appeared justified as the talks in the Shiite
bastion sparked a demonstration estimated by
journalists to number around 20,000 people, led by
religious figures.

"Yes to freedom ... Yes to Islam ... No to America, No
to Saddam," the crowd chanted in the centre of the
city.

The meeting came against a backdrop of renewed
differences across the Atlantic, this time over
neighbouring Syria.

US officials have accused the regime of President
Bashar al-Assad of state terrorism, developing weapons
of mass destruction and harbouring fugitive Iraqi
officials.

"We will examine possible measures of a diplomatic,
economic or other nature as we move forward," US
Secretary of State Colin Powell said.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer branded Syria a
terrorist state, while Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld claimed Syria had carried out a chemical
weapons test "over the past 12, 15 months".

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon joined the
offensive, describing Assad as "dangerous," and urging
Washington to put "very heavy ... political and
economic pressure" on Syria. But Washington's main
European ally, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair,
sought to reassure his parliament, pledging that there
were "no plans whatever to invade Syria".

And at a meeting in Luxembourg, European Union foreign
ministers called on Washington to tone down its
rhetoric.

"What we need now is to cool off the situation, not to
increase the tension, we have enough tensions in the
region ... not to create more," said EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana. The Arab League and the Egyptian
government strongly condemned the US accusations.

An advisor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned
the Americans against the temptation to "target one
Arab country after another".

And UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that
statements directed at Syria could destabilize the
whole Middle East.

"The secretary general is concerned that recent
statements directed at Syria should not contribute to a
wider destabilisation in a region already heavily
affected by the war in Iraq," Annan's spokesman said in
a statement.

Annan was due to discuss developments in Iraq with
European Union leaders in Athens later this week.

Syria's official media charged that the US accusations
were a smokescreen to keep Iraq under occupation.

The tense diplomatic exchanges set a rocky course for
the dollar against the yen and euro, as investors
nervously eyed developments.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told reporters not
to expect a US declaration of victory after its capture
of Tikrit.

But US and British officers said they hoped the city's
fall meant the effective end of the war, although there
was still no sign of Saddam himself.

"I would anticipate that the major combat engagements
are over because the major Iraqi units on the ground
cease to show coherence," said Major General Stanley
McChrystal, vice director of operations of the Joint
Staff in Washington.

And a drawdown of the 300,000 US force deployed in the
region was already underway.

Two US aircraft carriers -- the USS Kitty Hawk and the
USS Constellation -- are due to head home from the Gulf
as early as this week. US troops have worked alongside
Iraqi police in joint patrols to try to restore order.

But life in Baghdad remained far from normal six days
after US troops entered. Most shops remained closed,
and many parts of the city still lacked water or
electricity.

And US forces tried Tuesday to prevent the media from
covering a third day of anti-US protests by Iraqis
outside the hotel housing a US operations base in
central Baghdad.

Some 200-300 Iraqis gathered outside the Palestine
Hotel to express their rage at what they said was the
US failure to restore order after the fall of Saddam's
regime. For the first time, visibly-angered US military
officials sought to distance the media from the
protest.

Copyright 2003 AFP ###



__________________________________________________________________
Try AOL and get 1045 hours FREE for 45 days!
http://free.aol.com/tryaolfree/index.adp?375380

Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 for FREE! Download Now!
http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455


portside (the left side in nautical parlance) is a
news, discussion and debate service of the Committees
of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. It
aims to provide varied material of interest to people
on the left.

Post            : mail to 'portside at yahoogroups.com'
Subscribe       : mail to 'portside-subscribe at yahoogroups.com'
Unsubscribe     : mail to 'portside-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com'
List owner      : portside-owner at yahoogroups.com
Web address     : <http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/portside>
Digest mode     : visit Web site
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/