Ten days after the dismissal of Nouri al-Maliki and while the war and insecurity in Iraq rages on, the
world and the people of Iraq wait impatiently for a sign that the era of executions, torture, purges
and terror that characterised Maliki’s years in power will come to an end.
Terrorist groups associated with Iran, such as Badr, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kata’ib Hezbollah, were
responsible for the massacre of many innocent Iraqis, particularly Sunnis; their presence in Iraq and
Syria paved the way for the rapid expansion of the brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organisation.
These are the same groups that Khamenei, Maliki and Assad have been using directly or indirectly in
a bid to destroy popular revolution in Iraq and Syria.
The gruesome decapitation of the American journalist James Foley by IS in Syria has caused an
international outcry and doubled the need to overcome terrorism, by swiftly decoupling the Iranian
regime’s malevolent involvement in Iraq and Syria.
The recent call to the international community by Mr Hadi Al-Bahra, President of the Syrian National
Coalition, for military action against IS and Assad, should be taken seriously as he rightly warned
that in the absence of such a policy, extremism and terrorism would increase in the region; an
ominous phenomenon that has its epicentre in Tehran under the rule of the mullahs.
The past ten days have proven well the fact that Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Haidar al-Abadi
must ignore the demands of the Iranian and embark on fundamental changes; if he does so he will
attract international and regional support and he will be able to forge a new unity and solidarity
inside Iraq that will revive Iraq’s ability to confront and neutralise the Islamic State (ISIS).
Former Prime Minister Dr. Ayad Allawi said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on August 18
that the issue of Iraq is unfortunately “determined in other capitals…. I mean Iran…..we wish our brother
al-Abadi to take advantage of this historic opportunity and also the international support for Iraq and to try to
guarantee Iraq’s unity and to rescue it from the crises. We wish he would abandon his posts at Da’awa Party
and be the head of Iraq’s government….if he guarantees Iraq’s unity and ridding it from its crises and rules the
country as the head of Iraq’s government and all Iraqis, and not as an official of the Da’awa Party, and if he
presents a program that would guarantee the country’s integrity, we shall be with him. However, if it goes
otherwise, we will oppose his orientation.”
He told al-Arabiya TV on August 15: “All Iraqi forces without any exception should take part in the
political process, and only the terrorists and the thieves of public property should be excluded… should there
not be a genuine partnership, there will be a monopoly in power, and this is something that would drag Iraq
into a bigger catastrophe than the current one..” (al-Arabiya, August 15)
The Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq in an open letter dated August 17 announced that if the
new Prime Minister wants to make a change, he should stop bombarding and shelling civilians, he
should release hundreds of thousands of prisoners, he should prevent the militias’ activities, he
should end the policy of purging and marginalizing the people of Iraq, he should try criminals and
should bring back the displaced to their homes.
On 15 August, Sheikh Ali Hatam Suleiman one of the most prominent leaders of Iraqi tribes said: “we
stand ready to cooperate with this government if the rights of Sunnis are guaranteed… our top priorities are:
immediate cessation of shelling, withdrawal of militias and so called security forces and also return of the
displaced.” He added, “If you restore our rights and there is a real guarantee for that, then just leave IS to us
Sunnis…it’s because of Maliki’s cruelty and tyranny that some people are getting close to IS… if the new
Prime Minister decides to resolve the issue of IS, in the first place he must abandon more than thirty Shiite
militia groups who have penetrated into the defence, interior, national security and intelligence ministries…
more dangerous than IS are those who wear military uniforms, possess military IDs and kill and abduct
everyone they wish… we are committed to our people to fight terrorism, IS or else; in 2005 and 2006 the US
could not fight terrorism as the tribes did. However, the tribes do not want to be the fuel for a war that usurps
Sunnis’ rights as Maliki did when he received the Awakening Council from the US. “(15 August, Al-
Arabiya)
Dr. Taha Hamdoun, official spokesman for the Popular Movement in Iraq said: “our demands consist of
two parts: the urgent ones like ceasing arbitrary shelling, dropping explosive barrels and stopping sectarian
cleansing missions by the armed forces in Diyala, Samarra, Anbar and Baghdad; and to bring about the 14
conditions that demonstrators from the outset came out onto the streets to demand…”, “but if the scenario is
the same and this partnership is just superficial, then nobody would accept that… any way without granting
the rights of Arab Sunnis no peace and stability is possible.” (15 August, Al- Jazeera)
The European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) once again warns that without genuine changes in
polices and without removing all remnants of Maliki and evicting the Iranian regime from Iraq, Iraq
will not achieve tranquillity and security and bigger crises will threaten the region and the globe.
Struan Stevenson
President, European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA)
http://eu-iraq.org/
https://twitter.com/EuIraq
European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA), 1050 Brussels, Belgium
President: Struan Stevenson, Chairman of European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq (2009-2014), Members of the
board: Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament (1999-2014); Stephen Hughes, 1st Vice-President of
European Parliament Socialist Group (2009-2014); John Bruton, Former Prime Minister of Ireland; Geir Haarde, Former Prime
Minister of Iceland; Giulio Terzi, Former Foreign Minister of Italy; Lord Carlile of Berriew, QC; Paulo Casaca MEP (1999-2009);
Kimmo Sasi, MP (Finland); and honorary members including Tariq Hashemi, former Vice President of Iraq and Sid Ahmed
Ghozali Former Prime Minister of Algeria
