Iraqis skeptical of IGC choice for top government post

May 28, 2004 –

Iraqis are showing little support for Iyad Allawi, a wealthy Shi’ite merchant and former Ba’athist with long-time connections to British intelligence and the CIA, who was chosen yesterday by the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to be prime minister in the country’s new interim government. "He lived abroad as an exile," a Baghdad hotel manager told Reuters. "We need someone who lived here who can pull Iraq out of a crisis," he added. Other Iraqis were also dismissive of Allawi and the entire IGC. "I reject him," said Hasan Ali, a policeman. "Where was he when we suffered under Saddam? Besides I do not recognize the [Iraqi] Governing Council." Allawi went into exile in 1971 after turning against Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath party. In 1991, with the support of British intelligence and the CIA, he formed the Iraqi National Accord, a political party that in 1996 launched an unsuccessful coup against Hussein. In the build-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq last year, the INA supplied British intelligence with a report that falsely claimed Saddam could launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. Allawi’s duties on the IGC have been focused on running the committee charged with training the new Iraqi Army, intelligence, and police services. His cousin, Ali Allawi, is the current Iraqi defense minister.