Iraqi Exiles Shift Concern From Deposing Saddam to Protecting Iraq

By Mary Barrett

On Feb. 27, 1990, a number of Iraqi opposition groups met in Damascus to define their mutual hopes and intentions. Many of the same groups gathered there again 10 months later on Dec. 27, 1990. The position papers that came out of those sessions reflect the dynamics of changing options. The cancellation of still another important conference, originally scheduled for Jan. 18, 1991 in London, caught the world media off guard. Busy watching the unfolding tragedy in the Gulf, some news sources even claimed that an Iraqi government-in-exile had been formed in the meeting that never happened.

As the US high-tech air assault of Jan. 16 began, this loose-knit group of exiled activists quickly reordered its priorities. "The issue now is not overthrowing Saddam Hussain, " said Dr. Sahib Al-Hakim, a coordinator of the Iraqi opposition in London. "The issue now is stopping the destruction of Iraq, the dismembering of its infrastructure and the killing of its people while there is still something left to save."

Denouncing "Interference"

The groups who had gathered for the London conference issued a press release on Jan. 27 under the letterhead of Dr. Hakim's umbrella Organization of Human Rights in Iraq. Noting that they had previously denounced the sanctions imposed on Iraq, they stated:

"The right to overthrow this dictatorial regime is solely the responsibility of the Iraqi people without any interference from outside foreign powers.

"Maintaining that the Iraqi army is a formidable force, then using [that] as an excuse to hit Iraqi installations is a violation of the basic rules and international laws stipulated by the UN.

"It is inconceivable to rely on a single Security Council Resolution (No. 678) to bomb the Iraqi people [back to] the stone age.

"The dictator Saddam Hussain must be overthrown by the will and struggle of the Iraqi people and not by the foreign powers who previously aided and abetted him against his own people."

Back in February 1990, the Iraqi opposition delegates to the Damascus meeting had called for implementation of some 10 points including freedom of the press, the right to trade unions, the release of political prisoners and the return of deportees; the dismantling of the security and intelligence services; abrogation of the "leading party" system; the establishment of a neutral national government; autonomy for the Kurdish people within Iraqi unity; religious, racial and political freedoms; and termination of the state of war with Iran. Twenty-four signers representing Kurdish, nationalist, socialist, communist and competing Islamic groups included such well known activists as Masoud Barzani (Kurdish Democratic Party), Barzani's oft-times rival Jalal Talabani (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan), Dr. Mebdir Al-Wees (Socialist Party), Abdulrazzak Al-Safi (Communist Party), Dr. Mahmoud Othman (Kurdish Socialist Party), Dr. Tahsin Mualla (Ba'ath Party), and Dr. Mohammad Bahr El Eloom (Islamic group).

"A government-in-exile is not now on our agenda."

The December meeting, responding to the changes since the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, stated as its first goal the coordination of activities to overthrow Saddam Hussain, with no negotiations and no concessions. The second goal was to maintain the sovereignty of Iraq as a whole and to avoid the destruction of its economic and military capabilities. Third was the establishment of a provisional government after the fall of Saddam and the implementation of free elections. Other issues, including support for the Palestinians and destruction of chemical, biological and nuclear facilities, followed.

This statement was signed by Muhsin Al Husseini and Mohammad Al-Haidari for Mohammad Baker Al-Hakim, the exiled Shi'i leader of SAIRI (the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq), headquartered in Tehran. Other signers included Ridha Jawad Taqi for the Islamic Action Organization; Jawad Mohammad and Abulzraa Al-Maliki for Dawa (the Islamic Call); the (Islamic) Iraqi Mujahaddin Movement and the (Sunni) Islamic Group. Others were Jalal Talabani of PUK; Samu Abdul Rahman, Democratic Party of Kurdistan; Karim Ahmad, Iraqi Communist Party; Mahdi Al-Ubaida, Socialist Ba'ath Party leadership; Salih Dugla, Iraqi Democratic Group; Mebdir Al-Wees (Socialist Party), Iraqi nationalists and others.

The London "Conference of Human Rights and Democracy in Iraq," to have been conducted in English, would have featured such diverse speakers as Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith and British Assistant Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs David Gore-Booth. When it was cancelled, one organizer noted, "A government-in-exile is not now on our agenda. "

Sayed Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, brother of the SAIRI leader, had come from Tehran as his representative. On Jan. 22, Al-Hakim met with an official of the British Foreign Office and received assurances on four points: 1) Her Majesty's government supports a future government of Iraq which is based on the will of its people; 2) HM government supports the national unity and sovereignty of Iraq; 3) all allied forces have strict orders to avoid holy shrines; and 4) HM government does not intend to keep forces longer than is necessary and, in particular, after implementing UN resolutions and restoring life in Kuwait.

Kurdish Concerns

While most major opposition leaders gathered in London, Masoud Barzani remained with thousands of his Pesh Merga Kurdish guerrillas near the Iran/Iraq border. While the government of Turkey has said it fears the Kurds might try to take advantage of the war to carve out an independent country for themselves in northern Iraq, the Kurds, in fact, fear Turkey's ambitions in the same region.

Turkey has long considered the oil-rich areas of Kirkuk and Mosul to be rightfully Turkish. As 42 planes from NATO's Rapid Deployment Force moved into southeastern Turkey recently, Kurds feared they were really intended for use against them.

In Iraq, Kurds may speak their own language and obtain instruction in Kurdish and from Kurdish textbooks in Iraqi schools. In Turkey, the Kurdish language has been illegal for more than a century. But following the Jan. 16 outbreak of hostilities, the Turkish government lifted the ban. The move only deepened the suspicions by the Kurds.

For the moment, therefore, a broad range of competing Iraqi ethnic, religious and political groups, united previously by their opposition to the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussain, have something else in common: a deep concern that, instead of liberating their country from a tyrant, the Gulf war could result not only in the destruction of Iraq, but in its dismemberment at the bands of its Turkish and Iranian neighbors.

Mary Barrett is a free-lance writer based in Boston.