Iraqi Shiite Opposition Rejects US Rule of Post-Saddam Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 07, 2003

Iraqi Shiite Opposition Rejects US Rule of Post-Saddam Iraq

Iraq's Shiite Muslim opposition factions on Thursday rejected any US bid to impose a military rule in Iraq once President Saddam Hussein is ousted.

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Iraq's Shiite Muslim opposition factions on Thursday rejected any US bid to impose a military rule in Iraq once President Saddam Hussein is ousted.

About 250 delegates from the Shiite opposition exiled in Iran held a conference in Tehran to discuss the political future of the post-Saddam Iraq.

Most delegates said that they were opposed to ruling Iraq in the name of the country's majority Shiite community, saying that any future government should represent all the sects and factions.

Head of the Iraqi National Accord, Ahmed El-Galbi, said the Shiites are not in favor for sectarian rule as "they believe in democracy."

Participants expressed their concern that the United States could impose a military rule once Saddam's regime was toppled.

Abu Belal Al-Adeb, spokesman for Islamic Dawa Party, said Washington intends to appoint US officials to run the affairs of Iraqi ministries while hiring some Iraqis as "consultants" in the post-Saddam Iraq.

"This reveals the American ill-will towards Iraq and its colonial goals," he said.

Mohamed Bakir Al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said that if the Iraqis could not form a new government themselves, the country is bound to be ruled by a US military governor.

"The Shiites insist that the future government be in the hands of the Iraqis, so as to establish peace and stability," he said, warning that the imposition of a non-Iraqi military leader to head Iraq lead to instability.

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