The Iraq chair at this year's Arab summit was taken by IGC member Nasser Chadirji. He shared his thoughts on the summit, as well as Iraq's present and future, with Dina Ezzat Nasser Kamel Al-Chadirji is not the highest profile member of the Interim Governing Council (IGC). It was Al-Chadirji, however, who headed his country's delegation -- which he often refers to as "New Iraq" -- to the Arab summit in Tunis earlier this week. Al-Chadirji was representing the new IGC chairman, Ghazi Al- Yaour, who took over only a few days ago after the assassination of his predecessor. With Al-Yaour unable to leave Iraq so soon after his appointment, Al-Chadirji took the chair that was once reserved for Saddam Hussein; the same chair, in front of Saddam's old flag, which for the past 13 years was taken by Izzat Ibrahim, Saddam's deputy. Unlike in the past when the presence of Saddam or Ibrahim would have attracted much media attention, Al-Chadirji's entrance was more subdued. His overall demeanour was reserved and he seemed to avoid long conversations with other delegates. Why the low profile? Is it in Al- Chadirji's nature to remain at the edge of media attention at the highest annual Arab summit, or is it the intention of the new Iraq to limit relations with Arab neighbours, at least for now? And why did Al- Chadirji, or rather the IGC, fail to insist on replacing the old flag -- undoubtedly associated with Saddam's regime -- with a new Iraqi flag? And what does "New Iraq" think of Arab League summits? These were some of the questions posed by Al-Ahram Weekly at the end of the Arab summit on Sunday evening in Tunis. Al-Chadirji's answers often reflected a strong faith in the new Iraq, as well as much uncertainty about what the future may bring for the country. "There is so much going on and there is much that could happen, but to my mind the most important thing now is for Iraqis to regain sovereignty over their country, to have clean elections and to rebuild Iraq on the basis of democracy," Al-Chadirji said. Speaking to the Weekly hours after the Arab summit adopted a resolution calling for support of Iraq's pursuit of freedom and democracy, underlining the importance of maintaining Iraq's territorial unity and ethnic integrity, Al-Chadirji seemed certain the resolution was a good start in improving relations with Arab countries. "The new Iraq is very keen on having the best of relations with other Arab countries," he said. Al-Chadirji said he was pleased with the reception the Iraqi delegation received from Arab leaders. But what impressed him most was that Arab countries understood the need of Iraqis to make their own decisions. Along with many Iraqis and members of the IGC, Al- Chadirji previously criticised Arab countries for trying to hijack Iraq's decision-making powers after the fall of Saddam Hussein. "When the IGC was formed there was much talk in the Arab world about the fact that our council was not elected by the Iraqi people and was put in place by American troops. Some of these leaders talk as if they themselves were democratically elected; some even forget that they also have a huge American military presence in their own countries. We found this insulting. It really clouded our initial relationship with the Arab countries and the Arab League, which initially sided with those patronising voices," Al-Chadirji said. Now he is convinced that Arab countries have finally come to realise that Iraqis had no choice but to rely on the Americans to oust Saddam Hussein's regime; which, they believe, was atrocious to say the least. More atrocious than even the Americans could be. Al-Chadirji concedes that the situation in Iraq is chaotic and dangerous, and that the pro-American politicians who plotted the fall of Saddam Hussein, including Ahmed Al-Chalabi, do not have a strong political standing inside the country, and that these people enjoy a certain relationship with the Americans -- whom Al-Chadirji sometimes refers to as "occupation forces" and sometimes "coalition forces". But he is unwilling to entertain the notion that the Iraqis could have chosen an alternative method to oust Saddam and move the country forward. Arab countries ignored Iraq when the country was suffering under Saddam's tyranny, he said. Only when they clashed with Saddam was there talk of the atrocities he committed against the Iraqi people. But he assured Arab leaders he met on the fringes of the summit that Iraq wants independence as soon as possible; that it wants democracy. "They promised to help," he says. But how can they help? "By keeping their hands off Iraq," he said. "Arab countries who send militants into Iraq and who are helping Iran to finance people like Moqtada Al-Sadr, and others, need to stop doing so, not just because this is extremely harmful for Iraqis, but also because it is equally harmful to the entire region." "We want complete sovereignty and independence but this is a matter that is going to take time; sending combatants over the borders to kill American troops in Iraq is not going to help our independence process," stressed Al-Chadirji. The longer Iraq remains unstable, he continued, the greater the security risk for the entire Arab nation. "Ultimately everything has a spill-over effect." Al-Chadirji also told his Arab interlocutors he expects their support for the upcoming political process choreographed by the US and UN. "The UN got involved in Iraq because the IGC asked it to. It is working on a plan to include more political figures in the scene, as requested by the council. And the IGC will make way for the interim government at the end of June," he explained. While admitting the current political process will not bring stability and security to Iraq in the short term, he believes it is a step in the right direction towards building a new Iraq. For the lack of security he blames the Americans. "They have been slow to train a proper police force and army; when the transfer of power happens, we will almost be obliged to ask the US to maintain a presence in the region to ensure stability." Which means, he says, the next government will not ask the US forces to leave. Criticism from other Arab countries for this decision will be ignored categorically by Iraq, particularly in light of the fact that Arab countries are unlikely to send troops after a new UN resolution has been issued on the transfer of power. Al-Chadirji's voice remained low and calm throughout the interview until, that is, the issue of the Abu Ghraib atrocities and the Falluja massacres was raised. "It is very unfair to say that the IGC did nothing. The IGC adopted a clear political stance on both issues, but it seems that this didn't make its way into the Arab media," he said. According to Al-Chadirji, he was among the first to call for an inspection of Abu Ghraib and other jails in Iraq. "A few months before this came to light in the US media, I heard stories about incidences of torture in Abu Ghraib. I wrote a memo to the IGC and, along with some members, we approached [Chief Civil Administrator in Iraq] Paul Bremer," he recalled. Bremer ignored Abu Ghraib until the US media ran the story, Al- Chadirji admits. But then again, he argues, "at least we in Iraq can talk about what is going on in our prisons. This is not something that many people can do. We in Iraq could not have done this under the rule of Saddam when abuse was much harsher. But now we are living in the new Iraq." It was also the stance taken by the IGC members -- when they threatened to resign -- Al-Chadirji said, that forced the Americans to suspend their attacks in Falluja. He is willing to accept, he says, that the IGC does not currently have much power under the US occupation, and that the interim government will face similar problems. But most Arab countries who express criticism of the IGC are unable to defy Washington. They were unable to prevent the war on Iraq. But Al-Chadirji is eager to have their support for the new interim government. "If the new government enjoyed strong Arab support, especially from its immediate neighbours, then it could stand up to US pressure," he argued. He hopes to have Arab support with regard to US military presence in Iraq. They should stay, he says, but not too long. He remained reluctant, however, to define "too long". "The new government will have to decide on these matters, all I know is that we need to build our own force soon, so that we have independence," he said. Building up Iraq means working on human resources. "Of course, I believe that it would be very silly to exclude all Baathists from the process, especially if we are talking about the army and the police." The IGC supports the inclusion on Baathists in the reconstruction process also, as long as, Al-Chadirji says, they do not have Iraqi blood on their hands. Additionally, Al-Chadirji believes Iraq should have a new flag as soon as possible. "We sat in front of the old flag at this summit because the IGC decided the elected government should be responsible for designing the new flag," he said. The flag of Saddam Hussein cannot continue to be flown in the new Iraq, he added. "This is unacceptable to the IGC; this is unacceptable to the Iraqi people." By the time the new flag is designed, Saddam Hussein will have been handed over to the Iraqi people and tried in an Iraqi court according to Iraqi law. "In the new Iraq we will not allow injustice to be done, even to the man who meted out injustice to the Iraqi people."
