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Baghdad (AFP) March 27, 2010 Former premier Iyad Allawi, who once plotted a CIA-backed coup against Saddam Hussein and was nearly murdered while in exile, is within reach of retaking power in war-ravaged Iraq. The British-trained doctor's secular Iraqiya bloc won the most seats in the March 7 election, full results released by the election commission showed, narrowly edging out incumbent Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance. Allawi, a 64-year-old Shiite, was provisionally appointed prime minister by Washington in June 2004 and led a transitional government for just under a year. He had been a member of Saddam's now-banned Baath Party until 1971, but fell foul of the executed dictator and went into exile in Britain, where Iraqi agents tried to assassinate him. His Iraqiya list includes several Sunni Arab parties, including the National Dialogue Front of Saleh al-Mutlak, who was barred from taking part in the poll separately over his alleged Baathist links, and also features current Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. Allawi pledged to "work with all sides" to build a coalition following the announcement of the results, as his bloc's 91 parliamentary seats falls well short of the 163 required to form a government. "Iraqiya will open its heart to all political forces and all those who want to build Iraq, and we will together bury political sectarianism," he said in a television interview shortly after the full election figures were published. He has promised to "purge the armed forces and secret services of sectarian elements" if he formed Iraq's next government, in an interview with the BBC on Saturday. The police force was "riddled with sectarianism," he charged, pinning much of the blame on Maliki with whom he said he would refuse to work in a coalition unless he changed his outlook. The neurosurgeon-turned-politician won credibility during his interim term as premier for ruthlessly facing down the insurgency despite widespread corruption allegations. Yet his unflinching support for US military campaigns against Sunni and Shiite insurgents in Fallujah and Najaf left him with few friends there. His image of tough leadership was dented by attacks during campaigning for December 2005 elections in the holy city of Najaf, when he came under a hail of shoes and tomatoes. He later charged it had been an assassination attempt. It would not have been the first. In 2005, he thanked the Lebanese Shiite secular movement Amal for thwarting an assassination attempt against him during a visit to Lebanon. However, his most famous escape came in 1978, when an assailant, probably sent by Saddam, attacked him with an axe and left him for dead during his London exile. Allawi has excellent political and family credentials. His grandfather helped negotiate Iraq's independence from the British in the 1930s, and an uncle was health minister under the old monarchy, which fell in 1958. An uncle on his mother's side was prime minister of Lebanon in 1973. But this pedigree also comes with the baggage of a long exile and links to former Baathists, not to mention the CIA, which have made many Iraqis suspicious of Allawi. He is seen, in particular, by his opponents in southern Iraq as a symbol of the return of executed dictator Saddam' Baath Party. In 1991, together with former Iraqi military and Baathists, Allawi formed the Iraqi National Accord, under CIA tutelage, which staged an unsuccessful coup against Saddam in 1996.
earlier related report Allawi's secular Iraqiya list won two seats more than the State of Law Alliance led by Maliki, a fellow Shiite. But Iraqiya failed to clinch an overall majority in the Iraqi parliament, with Allawi vowing after the results to "work with all sides" to form a government. Maliki, however, refused to accept the results, telling a press conference in Baghdad following the release of the official figures on Friday that they remained "preliminary". "The election results are not final," said the prime minister, who has previously called for a nationwide manual recount of votes, alleging irregularities in the counting process. Security officials have warned a long period of coalition building could give insurgents and Al-Qaeda a chance to further destabilise Iraq, with deadly bomb attacks northeast of Baghdad on Friday illustrating their concerns. The results were announced shortly after twin bomb attacks in the central town of Khales killed 42 people and left 65 others wounded, according to security and medical sources. The US ambassador to Baghdad and the top American military commander in Iraq, in a joint statement, gave their blessing to the outcome. "We support the findings of international and independent Iraqi observers, who ... have found that there is no evidence of widespread or serious fraud," said Ambassador Christopher Hill and General Ray Odierno. The results come around five months before the United States is due to withdraw all of its combat troops from Iraq, and Washington will be keen to see a smooth outcome from the election. "We will work with all sides, whether they won or did not win in the election, to form the next government," Allawi said in a television interview immediately after the results were announced. In a separate interview, he later vowed: "Iraqiya will open its heart to all political forces and all those who want to build Iraq, and we will together bury political sectarianism." Fireworks were set off and celebratory gunfire was heard in central Baghdad as car drivers, some with Iraqi flags protruding from the windows, honked their horns at crossroads after the figures were published. At Iraqiya's political headquarters on Zaitun street in central Baghdad, supporters jubilantly tooted horns and greeted Allawi upon his arrival by shouting his name in unison. The results released by Iraq's election commission in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone showed Allawi won 91 seats in the nationwide poll, the second since Saddam Hussein was ousted in the 2003 US-led invasion. State of Law won 89 seats in the 325-member parliament, followed by the Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, with 70 seats. Kurdistania, comprised of the autonomous Kurdish region's two long-dominant blocs, won 43 seats. Iraqiya gained most of its seats from Sunni-majority areas, while State of Law won mostly in Shiite-dominated areas. But Allawi's bloc also managed to pick up 12 seats in mainly Shiite southern provinces, bolstering its total. All parties have three days to submit complaints, which will then be investigated by the election commission. It will likely be two weeks before Iraq's supreme court certifies the results. Allawi's victory signals he will be given the first opportunity to form a government, which would require a coalition holding at least a majority of 163 seats. If he fails to do so within 30 days, Iraq's president, who himself is elected by parliament, would choose the leader of another bloc to try to form a coalition government. Before Friday's figures were released, State of Law threatened not to recognise results it sees as tainted, which could plunge Iraq into political crisis, and organised several demonstrations in provinces where it fared well. The UN envoy to Iraq, though, hailed the election as "credible" and called on all parties to accept the outcome. "It is the UN's considered opinion that these elections have been credible and we congratulate the people of Iraq for this success," Ad Melkert told a press conference on Friday.
earlier related report 2003 March 20: US-led forces invade Iraq, which Washington and London accuse of harbouring weapons of mass destruction. April 9: American forces reach central Baghdad, where they topple a large statue of president Saddam Hussein, signalling the regime's downfall. May 1: US President George W. Bush announces the end of major combat operations, despite continuing violence. October 2: Washington acknowledges no weapons of mass destruction were found. October 16: UN Resolution 1511 legitimises the occupation. December 13: Saddam captured. 2004 April-August: Clashes between coalition forces and militiamen of Shiite radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. April 8: The start of abductions of foreigners. More than 30 are killed. April 28: Publication of photographs of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by American troops in Abu Ghraib prison. June 28: The US-led administration says it has handed over power to Iraqis. 2005 January 30: Iraqis vote in the first multi-party election in 50 years despite a spate of deadly attacks, but disenchanted Sunni Arabs largely boycott the vote. April 6: Jalal Talabani chosen as president, the first Kurd to hold the office in Iraqi history. December 15: The conservative Shiite United Iraqi Alliance wins most seats in parliamentary elections. 2006 February 22: Revered Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, blown up; 450 people die in surge of Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence. June 7: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, killed in a US air strike. October 11: A law creating a federal state is passed. November 5: Saddam condemned to death for the execution of 148 Shiites in 1982. December 30: Saddam hanged. 2007 January 10: Bush announces deployment of 30,000 more troops in a "surge" strategy. August 14: More than 400 people killed by suicide truck bombs targeting the Yazidi sect. September 3: British troops withdraw from Basra city to an airport base. 2008 March 23, 2008: 4,000 US soldiers killed since May 2003. 2009 January 1: US formally transfers control of Baghdad's high-security Green Zone, a prominent symbol of the American occupation. February 27: US President Barack Obama announces all US combat operations in Iraq will end by August 31, 2010, and that he intends to fully withdraw all American troops by the end of 2011. March 31: Britain officially begins to withdraw its troops, culminating in a complete pullout in summer 2009. June 30: US troops withdraw from Iraq's urban centres under a bilateral agreement. 2010 March 7: Iraq's electorate of about 19 million votes in parliamentary polls. March 26: The electoral commission releases full results from the elections, putting ex-premier Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqiya bloc narrowly in front of incumbent Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance.
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Secular strongman Allawi back on rungs of Iraq powerBaghdad (AFP) March 26, 2010 Iraq's former premier Iyad Allawi, who once plotted a CIA-backed coup against Saddam Hussein, is within reach of clambering back to power after the war-torn country's March 7 election. The British-trained doctor, 64, was provisionally appointed prime minister by Washington in June 2004 and led a transitional government for just under a year. Allawi, a Shiite, had been a member of Saddam' ... read more |
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