Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
International Herald Tribune
Friday, March 1,2002
I
de la Prensa-Basm Ozeti
u.s. hopes to broadcast Iraqi
opposition's voice
By MIchael R. Gordon
'l1Ie New York n_
WASHINGTON: The Bush administration is prepared
to finance the construction of a radio transmitter
in the Kurdish enclave in Ira9 or in neighboring
Iran so that the Iraqi opposition can begin
broadcasts to encourage opposition to ~addam
Hussein, according to State Department officials.
"We bave .pven tentative approval to the
concept of putting a transmitter in Iraq or Iran," a
State Department official said Wednesday. "But
we cannot support it unless the Kurds or Iranians
agreeTb'"
ere are mcreasmg
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tha
tea
th Bush dm'
lnistration
is girding for a political - and potentially
military - showdown with Iraq over Sad~
dam's efforts to develop weapons of mass
destruction.
The decision to build the transmitter represents
a new degree of support for the Iraqi National
Congress, as the Iraqi opposition group is known,
as well as some flexibility in Washington's dealings
with Iran.
For years. the State Department bas insisted that
it would not consider fmancing opposition operations
inside Iraq because they were too risky, and
President George W. Bush recently labeled Iran as
part of an "axis of evil."
Now, however, the State Department bas indicated
that it is prepared to pay to build the transmitter
on Iraqi territory to beam the Iraqi opposition's
programs across Iraq if the project is
supported by the main Kurdish groups in the
northern part of the country.
The choice of Iran as a potential base for the
transmitter demonstrates that, despite Bush's
characterization of Iran, there are cases where
American and Iranian interests may intersect.
Just as both nations found some common cause
in their opposition to the Taliban government in
Afghanistan, they each bave long-standing rivalries
with Saddam, who fought a brutal land war
against Iran through much of the 1980s.
The construction of a radio transmitter on Iranian
territory would not be the fmt time that the
Bush administration bas financed activities in
Iran by the Iraqi opposition.
Last year, the Bush administration gave money
to the Iraqi National Congress to open an office in
Tehran, which bas been an important base for
many of its activities. To use that money, the Iraqi
opposition received a license from the Treasury
De~rtment's Office of Foreign Asset Control.
which administers. the American sanctions
against Iran.
Ahmed Cbalabi, the founder of the Iraqi National
Congress, said that the Iranians would support
the construction of an American-fmanced radio.
transmitter on their territory.
But Chalabi indicated that, for reasons of symbolism,
as well as practicality, his primary goal
was to persuade the State Department that he bas
sufficient Kurdish backing to allow the installation
of the transmitter on Iraqi soil in parts of
northern Iraq that the Kurds control
The Kurds in the north bave been protected by
American and British air patrolsover their region
but are not united among themselves.
That battle over just how much Kurdish support
is needed before the United States would pay to
build a transmitter in northern Iraq may just be
beginning. A State Department official said it
would require the backing of the two main Kurdish
groups, which are led by Jalal Talabani and his
rival Massoud Barzam
"We feel it is important that these two major
Kurdish groups support this move," a State Department
official saic:l "I am sure you could always
find a Kurd whQ will support this. That is not
what we are looking for."
But Chalabi said he was not proposing to put the
transmitter on territory controlled by Talabani or
Barzani, because that would make them vulnerable
to threats from SaddaDl.
Instead, Chalabi wants to place the transmitter
on Sorain Mountain, which is close to the Iranian
border, well away from Saddam's forces and in a
region that Chalabi says is under the control of a
small Kurdish Socialist party that supports the
plan.
"I do not believe this will be a problem if the US
wants to help us do it," Chalabi said. "Talabani and
Barzani think it would be difficult to put it on
their territory, but they are not objecting to our
message."
The plan for the radio broadcasts is just one element
of the Iraqi opposition's broader plans to undermine
Saddam. The Iraqi National Congress is
also planning to hold a conference of several hundred
former - and even some current - Iraqi mUitary
off'lCerS.The State Department is supporting
the conference, which would be held in Washington.
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