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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mannie who wrote (17657)	4/21/2003 12:33:05 PM
From: Mannie	Respond to of 89467

Groups' Democratic Message Mon April 21, 2003 12:17 PM ET By Edmund Blair BAGHDAD (Reuters) - They have spray-painted graffiti across Baghdad, they have taken over former government buildings and some of them are armed. But these are not militias. They are the political groups that could be the future of a multi-party democracy in Iraq. After the collapse of three decades of repressive one-party rule by Saddam Hussein's Baath party, a host of political groupings from communists to Islamists, monarchists to revolutionary offshoots have descended on the capital. It's a bewildering array and many Iraqis have no idea who some of them are. But they are reveling in their new-found political freedom. "I am here to see what is happening, to understand what they are doing," said 35-year-old Khaled Abbas after meeting activists of a group called the Gathering for Iraqi Democracy at their spartan offices in a former government rest house. The country's political future remains unclear. U.S.-led forces have pledged to help set up a democratic state, but many Iraqis are skeptical about U.S motives. Some fear U.S. troops are here to stay to exploit Iraq's oil. The arrival back from exile of Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Conference political grouping, has fueled suspicions because of his close association with Washington. But the uncertainty has not stopped political parties from seeking to spread their message. Asked about the goals of his Gathering for Iraqi Democracy, assistant secretary-general Mohammed Kathir Mutlaq, said: "It is for freedom and human rights...We want a multi-party system, a country that respects the rule of law." It is the kind of promise heard at other newly established party headquarters across the city. But it can't be repeated enough for most Iraqis, who are tired of the pro-Saddam slogans that have filled their lives since he became president in 1979. New slogans, hastily splashed up on walls, now appear across the city. "Freedom, equality, worker's government," a communist party has scrawled. Graffiti by the Shiite Islamic Dawa party pledges to rebuild Iraq. TOO MANY PARTIES FOR SOME The sudden explosion in groups has not impressed some. "There must be many parties for a democracy but now, if you get 10 or 20 people together, they call themselves a party. It is impossible," said 65-year-old Ahmed Raed al-Jabburi. And some old habits also die hard. At the headquarters of the Free Officers and Civilian Movement (FOCM), an offshoot from the 1958 revolutionaries who overthrew the monarchy, retired Lieutenant Colonel Karim Ali was prompted to repeat slogans by another activist as he explained what the party he had just joined stood for. Meanwhile, running a party in Baghdad is no easy task. the party Karim Ali has signed up for has no leaflets to hand out because there is no electricity to print them. The only copy of the by-laws they have at present includes one pledging to keep the military out of politics, although an AK-47 assault rifle lay on a chair next to FOCM activist, former army officer Khaled Abdullah. "It's to protect us from looters," said the 32-year-old. Abdullah said the group's building, which was formerly an office for army officers' housing, had been ransacked when a looting spree gripped the capital. The existing desks and chairs were donated, he said. The new-found freedoms are also exposing bitter rivalries and voices that sound far from democratic. A teacher said he was ready to take up his gun against any pro-Kurdish group in government that tried to let the Kurdish north secede. A Shiite pulled out a portrait of Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, saying he would fight to make him president. But others dismiss such differences of opinion, and say Iraqis have a bigger worry. "We are afraid the Americans will stay because they want our oil. That is the only thing we are afraid of now," said 20-year-old Ali Hamid.