Iraq Opposition Plans Own Post-Saddam Government
Thu March 27, 2003 03:35 PM ET
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - The Iraqi opposition said on Thursday it was planning its own government to succeed President Saddam Hussein if invading U.S. and British forces overthrow him.
The United States said that it was against the opposition declaring a provisional government "at this time" and that the future of Iraq should be decided by the broadest possible cross-section of Iraqis in exile and inside the country.
Plans for an opposition-run government were revealed in a statement from an opposition leadership committee which includes Kurdish factions that run northern Iraq, an Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim group and a U.S.-funded body.
"On the eve of the liberation of Iraq, the leadership committee will announce an independent, transitional coalition government to run the affairs of the country and protect the dignity of its people, and its independence, national sovereignty and unity," the statement said.
The opposition has described U.S. plans for post-war rule as foreign occupation, while the U.S.-funded Iraqi National Congress has urged Washington to keep control of the country in Iraqi hands if and when the invasion forces oust Saddam.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that when the war is over the United States intends to set up an "Iraqi interim authority" to help with the transition.
"The Iraqi interim authority must come from all Iraq's ethnic groups and regions, including Iraqis inside, Kurds and the external opposition. The exact mechanism for choosing the interim authority will be determined later after the conflict is over in consultation with the Iraqis," he added.
The opposition's apparent defiance of the United States illustrated the poor state of relations between them, despite the opposition's complete dependence on U.S. military might.
The committee also called on the Iraqi people to prepare for an uprising against Saddam.
Washington is massing troops for a second front in the Kurdish north, an area controlled by two Kurdish factions which want U.S. support to preserve the autonomy they have had since wresting the area from Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War.
Other members of the committee include the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, whose fighters took part in a southern uprising after the last Gulf War which Washington encouraged, then saw Saddam crush.
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