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Iraqi exile slams US for awarding deals http://www.bahraintribune.com/middle.asp?Art_No=9687 KUWAIT: A prominent Iraqi exile said yesterday only a democratically-elected government should be allowed to sign the massive contracts needed to reconstruct the country. Former Foreign Minister Adnan Pachachi criticised Washington over its plans for a US-led civilian authority to hand out reconstruction contracts without the approval of an elected Iraqi government. No one has the right to commit Iraq to obligations and costs, he told a news conference in Kuwait. ÒOnly an Iraqi government can do that. A parliament should also endorse the agreements. The US government on Thursday awarded Bechtel Corp. a $680-million-contract to help rebuild Iraq's power, water and sewage systems as well as repair air and sea ports. Pachachi, seen as a potential future policymaker, also said he hoped a broad-based conference would be held in Baghdad soon to elect an interim Iraqi authority over the civil authority headed by retired US general Jay Garner, that would put the war-ravaged country on the path to free elections. We believe that the involvement of the United Nations will give the government legitimacy and greater acceptance worldwide and among Iraqis, Pachachi said. Washington has said it intends to include a role for the United Nations in rebuilding Iraq, but has given few details and is pushing the Security Council to help restart the economy by ending the UN sanctions imposed in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Pachachi, who left Iraq in 1969 shortly after Saddam Hussein's Baath Party toppled the government and took power, has been courted by Washington to play a key role in the country. We hope to have as soon as possible a broadly-based conference convened to elect a transitional government that will be entrusted with the task of preparing the country for elections under international supervision for a constituent assembly that will draft a constitution which will be submitted to the people in a referendum, he said. He said that if an Iraqi government is elected, then the need for an American civil administration, now headed by General (Jay) Garner, would not exist. Pachachi discussed the situation in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq with Kuwait's First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah and Parliament Speaker Jassem Al Khorafi. Pachachi, who opposed the US-led war and favoured a provisional UN administration to maintain law and order in Iraq following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, said he was not considering being part of any interim government but preferred to help convene the conference. He hoped the transitional authority would enjoy extensive support worldwide and Òbe able to administer the country in a state of peace and security, and allow Iraqis to choose their own government and administration. Pachachi was the only Sunni Muslim offered a seat on a six-member leadership council set up at a meeting of major opposition groups in Kurdish-held northern Iraq in February. The others were from the majority Shiite Muslim, and Kurdish communities. But Pachachi, who is based in Abu Dhabi and also spends time in London, spurned the offer. He went on instead to rally liberal Iraqi independents, announcing the birth of Independent Iraqis for Democracy at a conference attended by some 300 Iraqi exiles in the British capital last month. Pachachi served as foreign minister from 1965 to 1967. His father was prime minister before the 1958 coup which toppled the Iraqi monarchy. Ð Agencies _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk