Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Britain to tell Iraqi groups to heal rift

Andrew Marshall
Monday 23 November 1998 00:02 GMT
Comments

THE IRAQI opposition, which is demanding guns, battle training and propaganda expertise from Britain for its war against Saddam Hussein, will be told today to sort out infighting first.

Derek Fatchett, the Foreign Office minister, is expected to tell opposition leaders in London that they must present a united front before any aid is forthcoming. The opposition includes dozens of factions, including the Iraqi Communist party, Kurdish groups and Shia Muslims, some of whom are based in Iran.

The US and Britain have pledged assistance in a strategy to topple President Saddam provided the historically divided opposition can resolve its differences.

Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, believes Britain could help unify the opposition.

He praised Mr Fatchett's efforts and said the Congress aimed to build up popular support within Iraq, take control of part of the country and reassure neighbouring nations.

The Iraqi opposition leader also called on Britain to provide military assistance, similar to that offered by the US Congress. "They can help in the training of the forces that we have to fight against Saddam," he said. "They are perfectly capable of doing that."

But Britain is cautious about covertly supporting a rebel army. "It's very hard to sustain an insurgency or a guerrilla movement, which some of the opposition would like to see," a British official said.

The US Congress has approved the Iraq Liberation Act, pledging aid worth $97m (pounds 60.24m), including military training and equipment. But it is conditional on the President's approval and the White House has yet to decide how to award the cash. "The prospect of this being spent quickly, especially on military goods, is not an immediate prospect," said an official in Washington.

One of the key issues for the opposition would be the support of neighbouring countries, allowing it to set up political bases and, later, logistical bases for an armed struggle.

The opposition hopes that Britain will use its influence in Kuwait, Jordan, and, to some extent, Saudi Arabia to smooth the way. Britain also has full diplomatic ties with Iran, unlike the US.

Mr Chalabi said: "They could talk to the regional countries neighbouring Iraq and persuade them to overthrow Saddam."

But British officials are being cautious in view of past mistakes with the Iraqi opposition. "We mustn't get ahead of ourselves," one said. He pointed out that President Bill Clinton, when he spoke after the latest confrontation with Iraq, talked of supporting the opposition, not of overthrowing President Saddam.

That would be a much more ambitious goal with politically unsettling ramifications for Iraq's neighbours.

"All the neighbours of Iraq have a fear that in getting rid of Saddam, they might lose the territorial integrity of Iraq," said an official in Washington.

The US and Britain are also not keen on the goal expressed by some of the Iraqi opposition of forming a provisional government or a government in exile.

The UN resolutions passed since the 1991 Gulf War are binding on the Government of Iraq, and anything which weakens them would weaken Western policy.

"We don't want to score an own goal by doing things for political reasons which would provide a stick for others to beat us with," an official said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in