Phoenix Quote (roughly 3-4 months ago) found on east meets west

Published on Saturday, May 29, 2004 by the lndependent/UK
Exiled Allawi was Responsible for 45-Minute WMD Claim
by Patrick Cockburn
 
The choice of Iyad Allawi, closely linked to the CIA and formerly to MI6, as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 30 June will make it difficult for the US and Britain to persuade the rest of the world that he is capable of leading an independent government.


Iyad Allawi, a former member of Saddam Hussein 's Baath party who worked with the CIA to topple him, was chosen as prime minister of Iraq May 28, 2004. (Sergio Perez/Reuters)
He is the person through whom the controversial claim was channeled that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could be operational in 45 minutes.

Dr Allawi, aged 59, who trained as a neurologist, is a Shia Muslim who was a member of Saddam Hussein's Baath party in Iraq and in Britain, where he was a student leader with links to Iraqi intelligence. He later moved into opposition to the Iraqi leader and reportedly established a connection with the British security services. His change of allegiance led to Dr Allawi being targeted by Iraqi intelligence. In 1978 their agents armed with knives and axes badly wounded him when they attacked him as he lay asleep in bed in his house in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Dr Allawi became a businessman with contacts in Saudi Arabia. He was charming, intelligent and had a gift for impressing Western intelligence agencies. After the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraq National Accord (INA) party, which he helped to found, became one of the building blocks for the Iraqi opposition in exile. The organization attracted former Iraqi army officers and Baath party officials, particularly Sunni Arabs, fleeing Iraq.

In the mid-1990s the INA claimed to have extensive contacts in the Iraqi officer corps. Dr Allawi began to move from the orbit of MI6 to the CIA. He persuaded his new masters that he was in a position to organize a military coup in Baghdad.

With American, British and Saudi support, he opened a headquarters and a radio station in Amman in Jordan in 1996, declaring it was "a historic moment for the Iraqi opposition". After a failed coup attempt that year there were mass arrests in Baghdad. Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti, the Jordanian prime minister of the day, said that INA's networks were "all penetrated by the Iraqi security services".

Dr Allawi and the INA returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam and set up offices in Baghdad and in old Baath party offices throughout Iraq.

There were few signs that they had any popular support. During an uprising in the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, last year, crowds immediately set fire to the INA office.

Dr Allawi was head of the security committee of the Iraqi Governing Council and was opposed to the dissolution of the army by Paul Bremer, the US viceroy in Iraq. He stepped down in protest as head of the committee during the US assault on Fallujah. But his reputation among Iraqis for working first with Saddam's intelligence agents and then with MI6 and the CIA may make it impossible for them to accept him as leader of an independent Iraq.

© Copyright 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

###

Al Maliki or Allawi, who will blink first?
Both command support of large segments of Iraqi society, but their contributions to their own blocs are very modest
By Jasim Al Azzawi, Special to Gulf NewsPublished: 00:01 August 30, 2010


Image Credit: AP
Former prime minister Eyad Allawi (centre left) and Al Maliki (centre right) after the first session of parliament on June 14.
Five months after crucial elections in Iraq, the country is still without a government. The biggest two winners of the March 7 elections are locked in bitter protracted negotiations to decide who should be Iraq's next prime minister.
Al Iraqiya coalition, headed by former Iraqi prime minister Eyad Allawi, won 91 seats while the State of Law coalition, headed by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki won 89 seats. Both men have stated that compromise is not an option and that the other man must yield. Frustrated Iraqis have resigned themselves to a long political gridlock punctuated by rising violence, lack of services and poverty.
The high stake negotiations conducted by special committees of trusted representatives of the two archrivals betray the precarious positions of the two men. On paper both men command the support of large segments of Iraqi society, but in reality their contributions to their own blocs are very modest.
Three reasons may prevent Allawi from caving in first and accepting a junior position, such as deputy prime minister in charge of security. First, his key coalition partners who were instrumental in bringing him this far, will pressure him to refuse a secondary role to Al Maliki, especially when they have bested Al Maliki's coalition by two seats.
Article continues below


Second, given his age, 74, Allawi knows very well that this is his last chance to be prime minister again; it's either now or never.
Third, if he is to accept a junior role, Allawi has no guarantees that his future decisions and actions will not be reversed and nullified by Al Maliki's powerful generals in charge of security and intelligence services.
Given his limited options, Allawi's strategy is to stay firm, watch Al Maliki stew in his own juice and wait for him to commit a blunder.
Uncertainty
"The problem is that they both have equal shares of political support and both fancy themselves as a strong prime minister," says Dr Sa'ad Nagi Jawad, Professor of Political Science at Baghdad University.

"If negotiations collapse, Al Maliki will be forced to go to parliament. But given the mood in the country no one can predict the outcome of such a move and who will emerge as prime minister."
In his tenure as prime minister, Al Maliki has succeeded in alienating all political factions; the Kurds, his erstwhile Shiite allies and above all the firebrand cleric Muqtada Al Sadr.
The Iraqi National Alliance (INA) headed by Ammar Al Hakim has castigated Al Maliki in the most undiplomatic language possible while Al Sadr has called Al Maliki a liar. Al Sadr's 40 seats out of INA's 70 have given the hotheaded cleric the licence to decide whether Al Maliki will live inside or outside the Shiite's tent. Though highly unlikely, the mercurial cleric may change his mind and bless Al Maliki, but that means Al Maliki will forever be his prisoner.
So, who will be Iraq's next PM?
"Iran is dead against Allawi being a prime minister and prefers Al Maliki. The US on the other hand prefers a power sharing government in which Allawi's Iraqiya coalition plays a significant role in the new government, an outcome supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"The formation of a new Iraqi government will only succeed if no regional red lines are crossed, which is the marginalisation of the Sunnis as represented by the Iraqiya coalition," says Joost Hilterman, an Iraq expert with the International Crisis Group.
Resolving the deadlock
"The current stalemate is a constitutional problem. The Iraqi constitution cannot resolve the current deadlock and the recent interpretation of election results by the Iraqi Federal Court have muddied the picture. The Marjeia in Najaf may eventually have to step in to break this jam."
The ambitious Allawi cannot envisage a limited role for himself, not even that of president of Iraq, as insinuated by some of Al Maliki's people. He wants to fulfil his image of a tough politician, something the presidency will not allow him to achieve. His people countered back by offering Al Maliki the presidency.
But this constitutional and power vacuum cannot go on forever. If the two men fail to reach a workable agreement, Al Maliki may be forced to nominate one of his loyal protege, Ali Al Adeeb, as a candidate for the top job. "Despite the waning of US influence in Iraq, the Americans can still play a major role in facilitating the formation of a new government," says Hilterman.
"Allawi has recently said that the US wants Al Maliki as prime minister. They believe they've tested him and can work with him which is not good news for Allawi," says Jawad.
Allawi's Young Turk in parliament will likely revolt against him if Allawi compromises on crucial and explosive issues, such as Kirkuk or immunity for well known corrupt politicians or those responsible for killing and torture.
So, whether it is Allawi or Al Maliki, both men will be hamstrung as prime minister and will be forced to rule by consensus. The prospect of a fracture in their own coalitions and the constant threat of ‘no confidence' by either of these two powerful blocs will ensure that both Allawi and Al Maliki will be shadows of their earlier days.
Jasim Al Azzawi is the presenter of Inside Iraq on Al Jazeera English.

Ayad Allawi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A'yad Allawi

Prime Minister of Iraq
In office
28 May 2004 – 7 April 2005
President Paul Bremer
Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer (Acting)
Preceded by Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer (President of the Governing Council)
Succeeded by Ibrahim al-Jaafari
President of the Governing Council of Iraq
In office
1 October 2003 – 31 October 2003
Leader Paul Bremer
Preceded by Ahmed Chalabi
Succeeded by Jalal Talabani
Personal details
Born 1945 (age 65–66)
Baghdad, Iraq
Political party Iraqi National Movement
Iraqi National Accord
Alma mater University of London
Profession Neurologist
Religion Shia Islam
Ayad Allawi (Arabic: إياد علاوي‎. Iyād ʿAllāwī; born 1945) is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which was established by U.S.-led coalition authorities following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He became Iraq's first head of government since Saddam Hussein when the council dissolved on June 1, 2004 and named him Prime Minister of the Iraqi Interim Government. His term as Prime Minister ended on April 7, 2005, after the selection of Islamic Dawa Party leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari by the newly-elected transitional Iraqi National Assembly.[1]
A former Ba'athist, Allawi helped found the Iraqi National Accord, which today is an active political party. In the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq the INA provided intelligence about alleged weapons of mass destruction to MI6. Allawi has lived about half of his life in the UK. His wife and children still live in Britain for their security. He survived assassination attempts in 1978, in 2004, and on April 20, 2005.
Allawi's name is sometimes rendered as Eyad Allawi, the correct pronunciation compared to the common Iraqi dialect for Ayad.