Iraqi scholars plan US opposition

By David Bamford BBC,London

Five-hundred Iraqis from across the political spectrum
have been taking part in a Baghdad conference to
discuss opposition to the US-led occupation.

The organisers, calling themselves the United Iraqi
Scholars Group, say the aim of their five-hour meeting
was to work out a common platform on how to end the
occupation.

If the people of Iraq, and the Arab world beyond, were
hoping that the US-led invasion of Iraq and the
collapse of its authoritarian Baathist regime would
usher in an era of stability, peace and democracy, then
they have been sorely disappointed.

What is becoming increasingly accepted as the inherent
inability of the US-led coalition to come to grips with
the situation - further exacerbated by the range of
opposition forces ranged against it - has left a
political vacuum, a vacuum that this initiative hopes
to help fill.

Boycott plan

The senior Shia cleric behind the initiative, Sheikh
Jawad al-Khalisi, brought together some 500 prominent
Iraqis - Shia, Sunni, Arab nationalist and Kurdish.

They hope to carve out a path, free from American and
other foreign influences, along which the majority of
Iraqis could be persuaded to move.

The conference set up a 16-member panel, pledged to
boycott any US-sponsored political group, including the
Iraqi Governing Council, to re-establish the national
army and to restore sovereignty under the auspices of
the United Nations.

Sheikh Khalisi’s opposition to the US programme seems
bound to cause hostility in some quarters.

But the idea of a broad and wholly Iraqi initiative may
also win hearts and minds among the local population.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/3697225.stm