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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraqi defense minister blasts Iran, Syria |
| 2004-12-15 |
| Iraq's interim defense minister accused neighbors Iran and Syria on Wednesday of aiding al Qaeda Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and former agents of Saddam Hussein to promote a "terrorist" insurgency in Iraq. Hazim al-Shaalan poured scorn on Iran in a speech to U.S., British, Iraqi and other military officers and derided alleged links to Iran of Hussain al-Shahristani, a senior figure in a Shi'ite bloc expected to do well in next month's Iraqi election. "Iran runs a major terrorist ring inside Iraq," Shaalan said, repeating accusations frequently made by himself and his ally interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a fellow secular Shi'ite who unveiled a rival electoral list on Wednesday. "I have already said that this state (Iran) is the prime enemy of Iraq, an enemy of Iraq since before Islam, because it helped the enemies of the Arabs and humanity." "Syrian, Iranian and former Iraqi intelligence are cooperating with the Zarqawi group," Shaalan said, referring to the Jordanian's al Qaeda in Iraq group, which has claimed some of the bloodiest bombings and kidnappings since the war. "We want democracy and they want the dictatorship of Islam and clerical rule," he said at the opening of two days of talks on the role of Iraq's new National Guard security force. Iran and Syria deny any links with Iraq's guerrillas. "It seems he (Shaalan) has a mission to say such things," Iran's Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari told reporters. "I have always thought his remarks were because he was young, inexperienced and immature. But now I believe he has been ordered by his masters to say such things," he said. Shahristani, a nuclear scientist jailed for opposing Saddam, is a leading figure in the United Iraqi Alliance electoral bloc, which has the backing of Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The defense minister described the alliance as "the Iranian list" and made veiled accusations about Shahristani's relationship with Iran. "Shahristan is a city in Iran," he said. "He went to Iran. Today he returns to become Iraq's prime minister." Returning to the charge against Iran's clerical leaders, Shaalan said: "They want to liquidate you. This black horde." Addressing Iraqi officers in the room, he said: "They shall not pass but over our dead bodies. I wish you success -- we want more courage and sacrifice from you." Speaking to reporters afterwards Shaalan described Iraq's insurgency as a four-way coalition: "We have former Iraqi intelligence, we have Iranian intelligence, we have Syrian intelligence and we have Zarqawi and his followers," he said. Shaalan himself held senior intelligence posts under Saddam. Asked whether he was confident the new Iraqi forces could maintain order during the Jan. 30 election, he complained that funding remained tight because other ministers in the coalition were taking too big a share of funds, despite pressure from Allawi to bolster defense spending. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 I am hoping for some "blasting" in a more literal sense. |
| Posted by: jackal 2004-12-15 2:12:32 PM |