Saturday, Apr 17, 2004
U.S. turning to Iran, Syria to defuse crisis
By Atul Aneja
MANAMA, APRIL 16. Encountering stiff resistance in Fallujah and obstacles in mounting an offensive in the Shia stronghold of Najaf, the U.S. is turning to arch-foe Iran and Syria to defuse the crisis.
Poland, a key American ally, has opposed any U.S. move to undertake a military offensive in Najaf. The top commander of a Polish unit said his forces had been deployed to stabilise the situation in Iraq and not to participate in actions that could escalate tensions and lead to more bloodshed. Polish troops have been positioned in southern Iraq, including the Shia holy city of Karbala. The U.S. forces have surrounded Najaf, where Moqtada Al Sadr, an Iraqi cleric who has steered an anti-American uprising in Iraq has been residing.
The wave of abductions sweeping Iraq saw a U.S. businessman kidnapped from his hotel in the southern city of Basra. The kidnappers were disguised as policemen, Basra police chief said on Friday. Col. Khalaf al-Maleki said the abduction of the American, who was of Jordanian origin, took place on Thursday night. He gave no further details.
Denmark's Foreign Ministry said a Danish businessman was believed kidnapped while travelling from Basra to Baghdad.
Stressing that the U.S. troops should not enter Najaf, the top Shia spiritual leader in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Syed Ali Al Sistani has also warned that they should not pursue Mr. Al Sadr inside the city. Ayatollah Sistani has a wide following in Iraq, and it is widely believed that the U.S. forces can ill afford to defy him.
Mr. Al Sadr has himself sternly warned the U.S. on Friday that the use of force against him would lead to unimaginable consequences. In an interview with Lebanon's Al Safir daily, Mr. Al Sadr said: "If I am killed or detained the Iraqi public will know how to respond with a force and severity whose extent no one will have imagined." Indicating that they might not choose military action in Najaf anytime soon, the U.S. commanders said they expected to soon rotate some of the troops surrounding the southern Iraqi city.
Major Neal O'Brien of the U.S. forces said the units at Najaf "will not complete this operation" and are likely to be replaced by other troops. With the military option in Najaf not on the horizon, the U.S. authorities have sought Iranian mediation to defuse the crisis.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, has said that Teheran and Washington have been holding behind-the-scenes talks on how to restore order in Iraq. After meeting Massoud Barzani, the rotating head of the U.S. appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) on Thursday, Hossein Sadeghi, an Iranian envoy was in Najaf for talks with Mr. Al Sadr's group. Iran has enormous influence over Shias in Iraq.
Top leaders of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which is represented on the IGC, were in exile in Teheran for 22 years. Mr. Al Sadr himself has close links with Grand Ayatollah Kadhim Husseini al-Hairi, a leading Shia cleric based in the Iranian holy city of Qom.
Ayatollah Sistani traces his origin to Iranian city of Mashhad and most of his nine charitable organisations, engaged in providing housing for pilgrims and theology students, are in Iran.
Apart from Iran, the U.S. appears to be engaging Syria in its peace bid in Iraq. Syrian news agency, SANA has reported that the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has sent a letter to his Syrian counterpart, Farouk Al-Sharaa explaining "the dangers of the developments in Iraq." Mr. Powell in the letter has urged Syria "to give any possible help that could contribute to easing the situation there in a way that serves the country's unity and preserves its security and stability."
The U.S. President, George Bush, has also sent a separate letter to the the Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad. The news agency, however, did not reveal the contents of Mr. Bush's message. In a televised address on Tuesday, Mr. Bush said Iraq's neighbours "have responsibilities to make their region more stable." Elsewhere in Iraq, an uneasy calm prevailed over Fallujah, but short bursts of fighting have been taking place.
In a pre-dawn raid, .U.S AC-130 gunships struck guerilla hideouts in the city. Iraqi resistance fighters also fired mortar rounds, one of which landed on the roof of a building that is under the U.S. control.
Copyright © 2004, The Hindu.