-Caveat Lector- >From Agence France Presse Only Iraqi royalists give US plan to aid opposition public welcome DUBAI, Jan 21 (AFP) - Washington won the backing of Iraqi royalists Thursday for its not-so-secret plan to oust President Saddam Hussein but had yet to win the support of any of the main opposition factions. The small Movement for a Constitutional Monarchy, which wants to restore the royal family overthrown in 1958, said it weclomed the 97 million dollars in Congressional aid which President Bill Clinton offered to seven named Iraqi opposition groups Wednesday. "The Movement for a Constitutional Monarchy welcomes the support of the United States and the American people and their decision to stand by the Iraqi people and put an end to the suffering since Saddam came to power," a party statement said. "We welcome any moral or political support which is given without preconditions and which might help our people ... to have done with the dictatorial regime without recourse to direct foreign military intervention," it said. The royalists, headed by Ali ibn Hussein, a descendant of the Hashemite family which used to rule Iraq, were one of seven Iraqi opposition factions which Clinton named as eligible for US support and is the first to openly welcome it. The main Shiite Moslem opposition group, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Thursday snubbed the US offer. "We will not accept US aid for a change in Iraq," its leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat. The three Kurdish groups which between them control most of northern Iraq -- the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the smaller Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan (IMIK) -- were all lukewarm in their reaction. "The leadership of the PUK is studying the question. But, in principle, we are not in favour of aid with strings attached," said Fuad Maassum, a London-based member of the PUK leadership. The KDP said it had not been officially informed of the US decision. Washington had "not consulted" the KDP in advance, said its London representative, Dilshad Miran. The two other groups named by the US president -- the London-based opposition umbrella group, the Iraqi National Congress, and the Amman-based and pro-Western Iraqi National Accord -- have yet to give any public reaction. Washington appointed the current number two at its embassy in Ankara, Frank Ricciardone, Thursday as Special Representative for Transition in Iraq to coordinate its support for the opposition. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ >From Reuters Thursday January 21 11:44 AM ET U.S. Names Special Representative For Iraq WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday named Frank Ricciardone, a career diplomat, to the new post of special representative for transition in Iraq, with a mandate to coordinate opposition to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Ricciardone has been deputy chief of mission in Ankara, an important listening post for events in the Kurdish-controlled north of Iraq. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced the appointment in a speech to the Center for National Policy, the Washington think-tank which she once headed. ``He will be assisted by a team that will include both a military and a political adviser with extensive on-the-ground experience in the region,'' she said. ``With the aid of Frank Ricciardone and his team, we will persist in helping the Iraqi people re-integrate themselves into the world community by freeing themselves from a leader they do not want, do not deserve and never chose,'' she added. On Tuesday the White House sent Congress the names of seven Iraqi opposition groups deemed eligible for U.S. assistance under 1998's Iraq Liberation Act. The appointment of Ricciardone is part of the same long-term strategy of seeking political change in Baghdad, instead of containing the present government indefinitely through sanctions and military force. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ >From Reuters Iraqis Rally Against U.S. In Support Of Saddam <Picture>9.04 a.m. ET (1405 GMT) January 21, 1999 BAGHDAD � Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad Thursday against the United States, as an Iraqi newspaper said Washington was to blame for causing divisions in the U.N. Security Council on how to deal with Iraq. The crowd, waving banners in support of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and chanting "Death to America,'' gathered in Al-Habibiya, an area in the east of the capital. Latif Nasayef Jassim, a senior member of the regional command of the ruling Baath party, watched over the crowd. "We want the stupid Americans, Zionists and British to understand that these people after the eighth year and now in the ninth year (of sanctions) have determination, will and resolution to stay with their great leader Saddam Hussein,'' Jassim told reporters. Wednesday night the president was shown on television celebrating a Muslim holiday at a village near the capital, watching traditional dances and firing off a rifle as part of festivities. "You see this great mass of elderly men, women and children all coming here to say they are a solid mass behind the great leader Saddam Hussein,'' said Anisa Shafeeq, who added that the demonstrators were marking the start of the Gulf War, which began in January 1991 with air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition. An Iraqi newspaper also hit out at the United States Thursday, saying Washington had created splits in the U.N. Security Council for trying to exert control over the council without the backing of other members. "If we want to be frank, the reason for the division is really due to the attempt of one state, the United States, to impose its control on the council and on the world through it,'' the official Al-Thawra newspaper said. It said the U.S. policy on Iraq was opposed by permanent council members Russia, China and France, as well as some non- permanent members. Russia, China and France have traditionally taken a softer line on Iraq than the other two permanent council members, the United States and Britain. The paper was commenting on remarks by U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan, who said Tuesday his task in dealing with Iraq was made more difficult by Security Council divisions. Thawra said the U.S. position was based "on the logic of deliberately harming and not on discussion to solve problems and settle differences.'' "So (the United States) focuses all its efforts on maintaining the embargo and practicing military aggression on Iraq, whether the council approves or objects,'' it said. U.S. and British warplanes bombed Iraq heavily in December after a U.N. report saying Iraq was not cooperating with arms inspectors. It was the biggest offensive since the 1991 Gulf War which expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Since last month's attacks, there have been several initiatives at the United Nations, led by France, on easing sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! 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