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Barzani calls for a Federal Democratic Parliamentary State in Iraq.
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Conference
for Iraqi Officers in Early July: Al-Hakim Mediates Between Talabani and
Barzani
Al-Hayat June 20, 2002 Iraqi officers opposed to President Saddam Husayn's regime will hold a meeting in London in early July to discuss the means of "mobilizing the military efforts in support of the Iraqi opposition front." At the same time, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) (led by Muhammad Bakir al-Hakim) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (led by Massoud Barzani) have agreed to support the holding of a self-financed conference for the opposition. SCIRI also said it has sensed a positive response from the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (led by Jalal Talabani) to minimize their differences. An Iraqi opposition source told Al-Hayat that the officers' meeting in London "comes at the right time to confront the decisive developments Iraq is expecting and to help remove the obstacles that delayed the officers' meetings these past weeks." The initiative came from the "Iraqi Military Alliance" that was established by the "Iraqi National Coalition" and is led by Tawfiq al-Yasiri, an officer who joined the opposition in the early 1990s. A source in the alliance said: "The meeting will last three days and is a totally Iraqi-financed and organized initiative." It did however point out that the meeting "will complete the Iraqi National Congress efforts during the past two months that did not succeed because of the differences between the various parties and the lack of consensus inside the US administration on holding or financing the meeting." Sources said prominent officers who are residing in several countries have agreed to take part in the London meeting. They include figures affiliated to political organizations and independents. The organizers are hoping that more than 70 officers will attend the meetings that will also be attended by Arab and foreign figures. The military are hoping to agree on "a military charter of honor" through which they commit themselves "to work together to bring down the regime and turn the authority into a constitutional civilian government as soonest as possible." It has been learned that personal contributions with no strings attached and others from Iraqi financiers will cover the costs of holding the meetings in the British capital. Meanwhile, SCIRI and KDP discussed the US plans for the expected strike on Iraq during talks that a SCIRI delegation led by Muhammad al-Haydari, the chairman of the organization's Political Bureau, held in Arbil. The delegation met with Barzani and senior officials in his party. Al-Haydari told Al-Hayat that the talks dealt "with the US plans for a strike on Iraq. We underlined our support for our people and rejection of any harm to them. We also agreed to organize a self-financed conference for the opposition because SCIRI refuses to participate in any opposition conference financed by the US administration." He added that the two sides also discussed "the future of Iraq and the opposition's unity. SCIRI sought to bring the two main Kurdish parties together and remove their differences." SCIRI
underlined its refusal to cooperate with the US administration in any strike
on Iraq. But it acknowledged that it might benefit from every
available opportunity for undermining the regime in Baghdad.
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