Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
April 8, 2009
By Rod Nordland
BAGHDAD — Reconciliation between followers of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party and the Iraqi government seemed less likely than ever on Tuesday after harsh rhetoric from both sides.
In an audiotape, a former deputy of Mr. Hussein, who is the last high-ranking fugitive from the American forces, called for Iraqis to topple their government and return the Baath Party to power.
At the same time, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki angrily blamed Baathists for a series of car bomb attacks in the capital.
Both developments may stall efforts by Mr. Maliki’s government to reach out to former Baathists as part of his country’s reconciliation process.
The audiotape by the Hussein ally, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who was deputy chairman of Mr. Hussein’s Revolutionary Command Council, was broadcast on Al Jazeera on Tuesday, and an e-mailed transcript was provided separately to The New York Times by a Baath Party representative in Syria.
Mr. Douri, 65, is a member of the “deck of cards” of 52 Iraqi officials that American troops distributed after the invasion in 2003. American intelligence officials say he is active in financing and organizing insurgents, including Baathists.
The United States has posted a $10 million reward for his capture; American and Iraqi officials have accused the Syrian government of giving him refuge.
Mr. Douri called Mr. Maliki’s government and Iraqi elections illegitimate because they were a result of the American military occupation. Americans were withdrawing, he said, because they failed in Iraq but hoped to leave a puppet government in place.
“The political process is the occupation’s main project, so attack it through all means available to you,” Mr. Douri said, addressing “jihadis” in Iraq.
He said a Baathist government in Iraq would seek good relations with the Obama administration and “put behind them what happened in the past.”
The transcript of Mr. Douri’s broadcast, e-mailed to The Times by a Baathist-led coalition called the National Islamist Pan-Arabist Front, made no mention of a series of seven car bombs, six of them on Monday, that killed more than 40 people.
Mr. Maliki’s office released a statement late Monday blaming the Baathists, in conjunction with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, for the car bomb attacks. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is a homegrown extremist group with some foreign leadership.
The prime minister’s statement described the bombings as “a gift of the disbanded Baath Party on the ill omen of its anniversary.” Tuesday was the anniversary of the founding of the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq from 1968 until Mr. Hussein was ousted by the Americans.
Mr. Douri’s statement rejected any possibility of negotiations unless the Iraqi government met a series of conditions, which included allowing armed Baathists to take over the government and disbanding all institutions created after the American invasion.
Mr. Maliki in recent statements has made a distinction between people with Baathist backgrounds, who may have been supporting the insurgency, and terrorists with groups like Al Qaeda.
That was seen as a positive step in encouraging reconciliation, but it also drew strong criticism from Mr. Maliki’s own Shiite constituency.
Tuesday’s car bomb attack took place near a mosque, the Husseiniya al-Newab, in the largely Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya. A police official said that eight were killed and 20 wounded, all civilians.
Monday’s six car bombings were also all in Shiite neighborhoods and killed at least 33 people, mostly civilians, according to police reports.
The attacks did not bear the usual signature of Al Qaeda, which has more often employed roadside bombs and suicide bombings, either in vehicles or by individuals wearing explosive vests. The latest seven attacks all apparently used cars that were remotely detonated while parked or stopped.
“The followers of the destroyed regime have planted death and destruction in neighborhoods of our beloved city with the cooperation of the terrorist Al Qaeda organization,” Mr. Maliki’s statement said. “They’re trying to stir up sectarian unrest and instability.”
The prime minister offered no specific evidence to link the bombings to the Baath Party but noted that attacks had occurred every April 7 since Mr. Hussein was toppled.
“These criminal blasts reveal how bloody and despised this party is by the sons of the Iraqi people who have suffered from catastrophes and destruction for 35 years of their dictatorship,” Mr. Maliki’s statement said.
In Anbar Province on Tuesday, a suicide bomber rammed a car loaded with explosives into the armored car of an Awakening Council leader in Garma, near Falluja, in an unsuccessful attempt to kill him, according to a Falluja police official.
It was the third assassination attempt since December on Col. Saad Abbas al-Shimary, head of the Garma council. The other two attempts involved a suicide bomber in a truck and an effort to poison him.
One policeman was killed and nine were wounded in the latest bombing.
Garma, a former stronghold of insurgents, has had several suicide bomb attacks, including one last June that killed 20 people, including 3 Marines, at a meeting of local sheiks.
Atheer Kakan, Mohamed Hussein and Sam Dagher contributed reporting.
April 8, 2009
By Rod Nordland
BAGHDAD — Reconciliation between followers of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party and the Iraqi government seemed less likely than ever on Tuesday after harsh rhetoric from both sides.
In an audiotape, a former deputy of Mr. Hussein, who is the last high-ranking fugitive from the American forces, called for Iraqis to topple their government and return the Baath Party to power.
At the same time, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki angrily blamed Baathists for a series of car bomb attacks in the capital.
Both developments may stall efforts by Mr. Maliki’s government to reach out to former Baathists as part of his country’s reconciliation process.
The audiotape by the Hussein ally, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who was deputy chairman of Mr. Hussein’s Revolutionary Command Council, was broadcast on Al Jazeera on Tuesday, and an e-mailed transcript was provided separately to The New York Times by a Baath Party representative in Syria.
Mr. Douri, 65, is a member of the “deck of cards” of 52 Iraqi officials that American troops distributed after the invasion in 2003. American intelligence officials say he is active in financing and organizing insurgents, including Baathists.
The United States has posted a $10 million reward for his capture; American and Iraqi officials have accused the Syrian government of giving him refuge.
Mr. Douri called Mr. Maliki’s government and Iraqi elections illegitimate because they were a result of the American military occupation. Americans were withdrawing, he said, because they failed in Iraq but hoped to leave a puppet government in place.
“The political process is the occupation’s main project, so attack it through all means available to you,” Mr. Douri said, addressing “jihadis” in Iraq.
He said a Baathist government in Iraq would seek good relations with the Obama administration and “put behind them what happened in the past.”
The transcript of Mr. Douri’s broadcast, e-mailed to The Times by a Baathist-led coalition called the National Islamist Pan-Arabist Front, made no mention of a series of seven car bombs, six of them on Monday, that killed more than 40 people.
Mr. Maliki’s office released a statement late Monday blaming the Baathists, in conjunction with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, for the car bomb attacks. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is a homegrown extremist group with some foreign leadership.
The prime minister’s statement described the bombings as “a gift of the disbanded Baath Party on the ill omen of its anniversary.” Tuesday was the anniversary of the founding of the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq from 1968 until Mr. Hussein was ousted by the Americans.
Mr. Douri’s statement rejected any possibility of negotiations unless the Iraqi government met a series of conditions, which included allowing armed Baathists to take over the government and disbanding all institutions created after the American invasion.
Mr. Maliki in recent statements has made a distinction between people with Baathist backgrounds, who may have been supporting the insurgency, and terrorists with groups like Al Qaeda.
That was seen as a positive step in encouraging reconciliation, but it also drew strong criticism from Mr. Maliki’s own Shiite constituency.
Tuesday’s car bomb attack took place near a mosque, the Husseiniya al-Newab, in the largely Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya. A police official said that eight were killed and 20 wounded, all civilians.
Monday’s six car bombings were also all in Shiite neighborhoods and killed at least 33 people, mostly civilians, according to police reports.
The attacks did not bear the usual signature of Al Qaeda, which has more often employed roadside bombs and suicide bombings, either in vehicles or by individuals wearing explosive vests. The latest seven attacks all apparently used cars that were remotely detonated while parked or stopped.
“The followers of the destroyed regime have planted death and destruction in neighborhoods of our beloved city with the cooperation of the terrorist Al Qaeda organization,” Mr. Maliki’s statement said. “They’re trying to stir up sectarian unrest and instability.”
The prime minister offered no specific evidence to link the bombings to the Baath Party but noted that attacks had occurred every April 7 since Mr. Hussein was toppled.
“These criminal blasts reveal how bloody and despised this party is by the sons of the Iraqi people who have suffered from catastrophes and destruction for 35 years of their dictatorship,” Mr. Maliki’s statement said.
In Anbar Province on Tuesday, a suicide bomber rammed a car loaded with explosives into the armored car of an Awakening Council leader in Garma, near Falluja, in an unsuccessful attempt to kill him, according to a Falluja police official.
It was the third assassination attempt since December on Col. Saad Abbas al-Shimary, head of the Garma council. The other two attempts involved a suicide bomber in a truck and an effort to poison him.
One policeman was killed and nine were wounded in the latest bombing.
Garma, a former stronghold of insurgents, has had several suicide bomb attacks, including one last June that killed 20 people, including 3 Marines, at a meeting of local sheiks.
Atheer Kakan, Mohamed Hussein and Sam Dagher contributed reporting.