The Hindu : International : Tussle between ex-Ba'athists, Shias sharpens

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Sunday, May 23, 2004

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International

Tussle between ex-Ba'athists, Shias sharpens

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, MAY 22. The demonstration of U.S. hostility towards its former chief ally in the Iraqi opposition, Ahmed Chalabi, has triggered an angry response, amid anticipation that a tussle between erstwhile Ba'ath party members who once served the former President, Saddam Hussein, and Shia leaders could be sharpening.

About 200 protesters denounced Thursday's raid on Mr. Chalabi's residence, amid resignation threats by some Shia members of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council for Iraq. The Council, which met on Friday, condemned the raid. Mr. Chalabi said the swoop was carried out at the behest of Baghdad's police chief, a former Ba'athist, and included operatives from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Chalabi's remarks come against the backdrop of suspicions reflected in the media that U.S. occupation authorities, backed by Arab regimes in the region, were forging a new alliance with Sunni groups that were once part of the Iraqi ruling establishment.

The intrusion into Mr. Chalabi's residence and party office was preceded by a U.S. decision to terminate monthly payments of $34,0000 to the Iraqi National Congress that Mr. Chalabi heads. The Shia leader alleged that apart from other papers, the raiders took away computers and documentation related to the controversial U.N. oil-for-food programme. Mr. Chalabi said he had launched a personal investigation in order to trace the illegal beneficiaries from the programme, involving billions of dollars through U.N.-supervised Iraqi oil sales during Mr. Hussein's tenure.

Analysts list four factors that might have led to Mr. Chalabi's fall from grace.

First, Mr. Chalabi had become the chief critic of the U.S. decision to co-opt former Ba'ath party loyalists from the army of Mr. Hussein, Mr. Chalabi's arch-foe in Iraq. Mr. Chalabi had said that handover of the security of Fallujah to Ba'athists, which began on April 30, was akin to power being handed back to Nazis after the Second World War.

Second, Mr. Chalabi became a vehement critic of the U.S.-backed special envoy of the United Nations to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, whom he accused of being a friend of Mr. Hussein and an ally of "Arab nationalists". Mr. Chalabi's spokesman, Entifadh Qanbar, has described Mr. Brahimi, the point person to usher transition towards Iraqi rule at the end of next month, as being too close to Mr. Hussein.

In an interview on May 8 over the state-run Iranian television, Al-Alam, Mr. Chalabi criticised Mr. Brahimi, a Sunni, for supporting Mr. Hussein against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), when he served as Deputy Secretary General in the Arab League. "Brahimi is Algerian and he is committed to pan-Arab nationalism."

Third, Mr. Chalabi has roundly criticised the U.S. approach towards the revolt by the Shia cleric, Moqtada Al Sadr. Instead of confrontation, Mr. Chalabi has advocated that Mr. Al Sadr should be co-opted in the Governing Council. He once remarked: "I personally supported one candidate from Al Sadr's movement for the Governing Council. Al Sadr's movement is strong in Iraq."

Four, Mr. Chalabi has been accused of having close ties with Iran, and is suspected to have passed on sensitive information that could endanger the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq. While Mr. Chalabi's group has described Iran as a "very good neighbour", it has dismissed charges of leaking information to Teheran as part of a "CIA-orchestrated smear campaign".

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