Iraqi premier says he fears return of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party to power

 

By Ali Latif

 

Azzaman, November 3, 2009

 

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is still obsessed with former leader Saddam Hussein and his Baath party despite his decision to have Saddam executed and his party banned for ever.

 

In latest remarks, he is reported to have said that “some regional” states would like to see the Baath party reinstated in power in Iraq.

 

And in almost all his recent media speeches, the Baath party is present. He blames elements belonging to ousted pan-Arab faction for the upsurge in violence, deadly attacks on Iraqi and U.S. troops as well as the latest spate of massive bombings in Baghdad.

 

Three things are driving Maliki to turn into a fear-monger.

 

The first is the withdrawal of U.S. occupation troops sometime in the middle of next year. Maliki’s troops have proved to be inefficient and ineffective in keeping law and order since the retreat of U.S. troops to their fortified barracks.

 

The second concerns a new coalition led by Ayad Alawi, a veteran Iraqi politician and a former Baath party official who turned against Saddam Hussein. Alawi is strengthening his coalition by luring both Sunni and Shiite factions disappointed with Maliki’s leadership.

 

Alawi is a Shiite but a secular one. He wants to put an end to the domineering role religious Shiite factions and their Kurdish allies have been playing in post-U.S. invasion Iraqi politics.

 

The third, and more scary for Maliki, is the announcement by Izzat Ibrahim, Saddam’s most senior aide, who has been able to escape detention so far, of a new formation bringing together disparate Iraqi resistance groups.

 

Some 50 rebel groups are said to be under the new resistance umbrella Ibrahim leads. They all want nothing short of an immediate withdrawal of U.S. occupation troops and an end to the rule of the factions the U.S. has helped rule Iraq whether Shiite, Sunni or Kurd.

 

The security lapses and mounting violence seem to have emboldened Ibrahim who in a recent statement is reported to have predicted a return to power in the near future.