Iyad Allawi
Encyclopedia
Ayad Allawi is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim
Prime Minister of Iraq
prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections
. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which was established by U.S.-led coalition authorities following the 2003 invasion of Iraq
. He became Iraq's first head of government
since Saddam Hussein
when the council dissolved on June 1, 2004 and named him Prime Minister of the Iraqi Interim Government
. His term as Prime Minister ended on April 7, 2005, after the selection of Islamic Dawa Party
leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari
by the newly-elected transitional Iraqi National Assembly.
A former Ba'athist, Allawi helped found the Iraqi National Accord
, which today is an active political party. In the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq
the INA provided intelligence about alleged weapons of mass destruction to MI6. Allawi has lived about half of his life in the UK
. His wife and children still live in Britain for their security. He survived assassination attempts in 1978, in 2004, and on April 20, 2005.
Allawi's name is sometimes rendered as Eyad Allawi, the correct pronunciation compared to the common Iraqi dialect for Ayad.
1950s: Joins Baath party.
1960s: Studies at medical school in Baghdad.
1971: Leaves Baghdad due to differences with Saddam and moves to London to continue his medical education. Trains to be a neurologist and obtains a master of science in medicine and a doctorate in medicine from London University.
1975: Officially leaves the Baath party due to consolidation of power of the party by Saddam.
1978: Plots with Iraqi generals to overthrow Saddam in a coup and Saddam comes to know of this. He is attacked while in his bed in Kingston-upon-Thames. Intruder hits aims to strike Allawi a deadly blow, which Allawi deflects nearly severing his right leg. The would-be assassins flee. Allawi spends a year in hospital recovering from his injuries.
1980s: Travels extensively in the Middle East, holding clandestine meetings with other exiled Iraqis, and cultivating links with rebel army officers still in Iraq.
1991: Publicly announces the existence of the Iraqi National Accord which was previously a clandestine operation; and is voted its Secretary General. The organisation recruits amongst others disillusioned Baathist military officers who have defected.
1996: An INA coup attempt ends disastrously when Saddam's intelligence services penetrate the group's dissident operations inside Iraq. In June, 30 military officers linked to the INA are executed and another 100 arrested. Saddam takes revenge by confiscating all assets that has been owned by Allawi's affluent merchant family.
2002: Through an Iraqi officer linked with Allawi, the report claiming that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes is passed to British Intelligence.
2003: After the fall of Saddam, Allawi returns to Iraq and joins the Iraqi Governing Council. He holds the rotating presidency of the interim governing council during October 2003.
May 28, 2004: Allawi is voted for unanimously by the Governing Council to become the interim Prime Minister of Iraq.
June 28: As per Allawi's request, the US-led coalition hands over power to Allawi and the interim government two-days early.
December 2004: Assassination attempt by al-Qaeda against Allawi in Germany.
March 27, 2010: Allawi-led Iraqiya party wins (91) seats in the parliamentary elections
. He became involved in Ba'athism
at a young age and organized against the government of Abdul Karim Qassim
. In the 1960s, he studied at medical school in Baghdad
. He graduated high school from Baghdad College
an American Catholic Jesuit high school, same as Ahmed Chalabi and Adil Abdul Mahdi.
Iyad Allawi's first cousin once removed is called Hayder Allawi, who works in the Government
. His best friend is Iraqi business magnate
, Naji Aziz. Allawi is related to Ahmed Chalabi
, another prominent former exile and now disgraced though somewhat rehabilitated U.S. ally, through Ahmed's sister. Former minister of trade Ali Allawi
is Chalabi's sister's son as well as Iyad Allawi's cousin. The relationship between Chalabi and Allawi has been described as alternating between rivals and allies. In addition, Nouri Badran, interim Minister of Interior, is married to Iyad Allawi's sister.
At first Saddam, then Iraq's deputy president, pressured Allawi, who was in contact with senior military and party officers that were increasingly critical of Saddam, to rejoin the Ba'ath Party. In 1978, friends told Allawi that his name was on a liquidation list. In February 1978 Allawi was awoken in bed one night by an intruder in his Surrey
home, who proceeded to attack him with an axe. The intruder left, convinced that Allawi was dead as he lay in a pool of blood. He survived the attempted murder, and spent the next year in hospital recovering from his injuries. His first wife, Athour, was also wounded in the attack. It is presumed that the attack was an assassination attempt ordered by Saddam Hussein. He separated with his wife after mutual agreement.
In December 1990, Allawi announced the existence of the Iraqi National Accord
(INA). Six years later, using disillusioned Baathists in the military and government, it mounted an unsuccessful coup in Baghdad. One of Allawi's allies in the INA was Salah Omar Al-Ali
, a former member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council
and ambassador to the United Nations
. The INA received open backing from the UK, Egypt
, Jordan
, Saudi Arabia
, Turkey
and the United States
. The group consisted mainly of former military personnel who had defected from Saddam Hussein
's Iraq to instigate a military coup. Allawi established links and worked with the CIA in 1992 as a counterpoint to the better-known CIA asset Ahmed Chalabi
, and because of the INA's links in the Ba'athist establishment. It is alleged Allawi's INA organised attacks in Iraq. This campaign never posed a threat to Saddam Hussein's rule, but was designed to test INA's capability to effect regime change. Though Saddam's government claimed the attacks have caused up to 100 civilian deaths there are no true records of theses statistics to date.
A military coup was planned for 1996, in which Iraqi generals were to lead their units against Baghdad and remove Saddam Hussein. The CIA supported the plot, code-named DBACHILLES, and added Iraqi officers that were not part of INA. The plan ended in disaster as it had been infiltrated by agents loyal to Saddam. US support was also questionable - requests by the CIA station chief in Amman
for American air support were refused by the Clinton
administration. Many participants were executed. Lands and factories belonging to the Allawi family were confiscated. Even their graveyard in Najaf
was seized, although it was later returned. According to Allawi, his family lost $250 million worth of assets. US support for INA continued, receiving $6 million in covert aid in 1996 and $5 million in 1995 (according to books by David Wurmser
as well as Andrew
and Patrick Cockburn
).
The INA channelled the report from an Iraqi officer claiming that Iraq could deploy its supposed weapons of mass destruction
within "45 minutes" to British Intelligence. This claim featured prominently in the September Dossier
which the British government released in 2002 to gain public support for the Iraq invasion
. In the aftermath of the war, the "45 minute claim" was also at the heart of the confrontation between the British government and the BBC
, and the death of David Kelly later examined by Lord Hutton. Giving evidence to the Hutton Inquiry
, the head of MI6 Richard Dearlove
suggested that the claim related to battlefield weapons rather than weapons of mass destruction.
(the "CPA") was established by the occupying forces in order to administer the country until sovereignty could be restored. The CPA decided to establish a grouping of senior Iraqi politicians to carry out some administrative responsibilities, with a view to giving the occupation a more "Iraqi face". This grouping was referred to as the Governing Council, and was made up of 25 Iraqis that were appointed by the CPA. Allawi was one of those selected to serve on the Governing Council, and held the position of Minister of Defence (although his real responsibilities in that regard were limited considering Iraq remained under occupation). He held the rotating presidency
of the interim governing council during October 2003. In April 2004, Allawi reportedly resigned as head of the IGC security committee over concerns of US bombing in Fallujah
, according to a letter published in INA's newspaper.
In December 2003, he flew to CIA headquarters in Langley
together with fellow INA official Nouri Badran to discuss detailed plans for setting up a domestic secret service. The agency was to be headed by Badran, a former Ba'athist who served Saddam as an ambassador until 1990, and, controversially, recruited several agents for Saddam's Mukhabarat. When the Iraqi National Intelligence Service
was set up in March 2004, its designated director was Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed al-Shehwani, another former Ba'athist exile with ties to INA.
to govern the country beginning with the United States' handover of sovereignty (June 30, 2004) until national elections, scheduled for early 2005. Although many believe the decision was reached largely on the advice of United Nations
special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi
, the New York Times reported that Brahimi only endorsed him reluctantly after pressure from U.S. officials. (In response to a question about the role of the U.S. in Allawi's appointment, Brahimi replied:
“I sometimes say, I'm sure he doesn't mind me saying that, Bremer is the dictator of Iraq. He has the money. He has the signature. Nothing happens without his agreement in this country.” Two weeks later, Brahimi announced his resignation, due to "great difficulties and frustration".
At the time of his nomination, Allawi was often described in the US mainstream media as a moderate Shia, a member of Iraq's majority faith, chosen for his secular, national views. On June 28, 2004 (two days early), the U.S.-led coalition handed over power to Allawi and the Iraqi Interim Government
, who were sworn in later that same day. After his interim government assumed legal custody of Saddam Hussein and re-introduced capital punishment
, Allawi gave assurances that he would not interfere with the trial and would accept any court decisions. In an interview with Dubai
-based TV station al-Arabiya he said: "As for the execution, that is for the court to decide — so long as a decision is reached impartially and fairly."
On July 17, two Australian newspapers, the Sydney Morning Herald
, and The Age
, published an article alleging that one week before the handover of sovereignty, Allawi himself summarily executed six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station. The allegations were suspiciously made by two unnamed sources and the execution is said to have taken place in presence of about a dozen Iraqi police, four American security men and Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib. Mr Allawi reportedly said that the execution was to "send a clear message to the police on how to deal with insurgents". Both Allawi's office and Naqib have denied the report. Additionally, the allegations made by Sydney Morning Herald journalist Paul McGeough
went largely unreported by mainstream American media. Iraq's Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin
pledged to investigate the allegations against his PM. However, the investigation never took place and the incident remains unclear.
Allawi's government also wrote a new emergency regulation, which allows the executive branch to declare martial law, impose curfews and detain suspects. Paul Bremer's aides said Allawi lacked the power to impose martial law, and Secretary of State Colin Powell
warned that the U.S. would not support such a move. "The last thing we want," says a senior U.S. official, "is for the world to think we're foisting a new strongman on Iraq." Though, in addition to the stick of martial law, the government planned to offer a carrot of a broad amnesty for insurgents who have taken up arms against the U.S.-led occupation forces. Allawi himself has made clear that his government will reach out to Iraqi insurgents who have fought the Coalition for "patriotic motives" while seeking to isolate and destroy foreign elements such as the network led by the Jordanian jihadist Musab al-Zarqawi. Allawi knew that both the Sunni insurgency and the one waged by supporters of Shiite firebrand Moqtada Sadr have significant popular support, while his own government has yet to win the loyalty of Iraqis. On July 18, Iraqi militants offered a $285,000 reward for anyone who could kill Iyad Allawi.
During the summer of 2004, Allawi made several decisions seen as controversial at the time, but later worked in his interest as they demonstrated to Iraqis that Allawi did not favour one sect over another, and that he was a strong leader not afraid to use force to bring back the rule of law. Most notably, his decision to support the military incursions of both Najaf
and Falluja made him extremely unpopular amongst some Iraqis at the time. He also announced the creation of General Security Directorate
, a domestic spy agency, whose main role is to counteract terrorist groups and the Iraqi insurgency
.
Allawi led the Iraqi National Accord during the January 2005 Iraqi election
. His campaign was mainly characterised by his attempt to combat the character assassination that was led by Iranian-sponsored groups. His campaign suffered when he visited the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf on December 4, 2004, where an unknown group attacked him. Allawi claimed that it was an assassination attempt.
The INA came in at third place in the first elections, with 14% of the vote, which on a party versus coalition makes him head one of the largest represented parties. In the 2010 elections, Allawi's list won the most votes and beat incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by 2 seats.
, Allawi formed an alliance between many groups, including secular Sunni and Shia groups and the Iraqi Communist Party
under one electoral list (the Iraqi National List
).
The Iraqi National List was represented in the coalition government led by Nouri al-Maliki
, but Allawi himself did not take a Cabinet post. The party eventually boycotted the government in 2007. In preparation for upcoming national elections, Allawi formed a new coalition with leading Shia politician Iskander Witwit (one of the leaders of the 1991 uprising against Saddam), Shia tribal Sheikh Hussein al-Shalan, the deputy Prime Minister Raffi al-Essawi, Sunni politician Saleh Mutlaq and Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi called the Iraqi National Movement.
The 2010 parliamentary election ended up with a weeks-long wait for an announcement of results by the Iraqi Election Commission. The results of the elections finally came on March 26, 2010, when Allawi's Iraqiya bloc was declared the biggest winner of the parliamentary election with two seats surpassing Allawi's rival al-Maliki's party in the Assembly.
|-
Ad interim
The Latin phrase ad interim literally means "in the time between" denotes the meaning of "in the meantime", "for an intervening time" or "temporarily" in the English language...
Prime Minister of Iraq
Prime Minister of Iraq
The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's head of government. Prime Minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the country's active executive authority...
prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections
Iraqi legislative election, January 2005
Elections for the National Assembly of Iraq were held on January 30, 2005 in Iraq. The 275-member National Assembly was a parliament created under the Transitional Law during the Occupation of Iraq...
. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which was established by U.S.-led coalition authorities following the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. He became Iraq's first head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
since Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
when the council dissolved on June 1, 2004 and named him Prime Minister of the Iraqi Interim Government
Iraqi Interim Government
The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the Iraqi Transitional Government was installed following the Iraqi National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005...
. His term as Prime Minister ended on April 7, 2005, after the selection of Islamic Dawa Party
Islamic Dawa Party
The Islamic Dawa Party or Islamic Call Party is a political party in Iraq. Dawa and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council are two of the main parties in the religious-Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, which won a plurality of seats in both the provisional January 2005 Iraqi election and the longer-term...
leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari
Ibrahim al-Jaafari
Ibrahim abd al-Karim Hamzah al-Eshaiker al-Jafari is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq in the Iraqi Transitional Government from 2005 to 2006, following the January 2005 election. He was previously one of the two Vice-Presidents of Iraq under the Iraqi Interim Government from 2004...
by the newly-elected transitional Iraqi National Assembly.
A former Ba'athist, Allawi helped found the Iraqi National Accord
Iraqi National Accord
The Iraqi National Accord known inside Iraq as Wifaq is an Iraqi political party founded by Iyad Allawi and Salah Omar Al-Ali in 1991. Al-Ali subsequently left the party after he realised the extent of Allawi's links to foreign intelligence agencies, mainly the C.I.A. and MI6.It was founded at the...
, which today is an active political party. In the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
the INA provided intelligence about alleged weapons of mass destruction to MI6. Allawi has lived about half of his life in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. His wife and children still live in Britain for their security. He survived assassination attempts in 1978, in 2004, and on April 20, 2005.
Allawi's name is sometimes rendered as Eyad Allawi, the correct pronunciation compared to the common Iraqi dialect for Ayad.
Timeline
1945: Born to a wealthy Shiite merchant family. His grandfather helped to negotiate Iraq's independence from Britain, and his father was a doctor and a MP.1950s: Joins Baath party.
1960s: Studies at medical school in Baghdad.
1971: Leaves Baghdad due to differences with Saddam and moves to London to continue his medical education. Trains to be a neurologist and obtains a master of science in medicine and a doctorate in medicine from London University.
1975: Officially leaves the Baath party due to consolidation of power of the party by Saddam.
1978: Plots with Iraqi generals to overthrow Saddam in a coup and Saddam comes to know of this. He is attacked while in his bed in Kingston-upon-Thames. Intruder hits aims to strike Allawi a deadly blow, which Allawi deflects nearly severing his right leg. The would-be assassins flee. Allawi spends a year in hospital recovering from his injuries.
1980s: Travels extensively in the Middle East, holding clandestine meetings with other exiled Iraqis, and cultivating links with rebel army officers still in Iraq.
1991: Publicly announces the existence of the Iraqi National Accord which was previously a clandestine operation; and is voted its Secretary General. The organisation recruits amongst others disillusioned Baathist military officers who have defected.
1996: An INA coup attempt ends disastrously when Saddam's intelligence services penetrate the group's dissident operations inside Iraq. In June, 30 military officers linked to the INA are executed and another 100 arrested. Saddam takes revenge by confiscating all assets that has been owned by Allawi's affluent merchant family.
2002: Through an Iraqi officer linked with Allawi, the report claiming that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes is passed to British Intelligence.
2003: After the fall of Saddam, Allawi returns to Iraq and joins the Iraqi Governing Council. He holds the rotating presidency of the interim governing council during October 2003.
May 28, 2004: Allawi is voted for unanimously by the Governing Council to become the interim Prime Minister of Iraq.
June 28: As per Allawi's request, the US-led coalition hands over power to Allawi and the interim government two-days early.
December 2004: Assassination attempt by al-Qaeda against Allawi in Germany.
March 27, 2010: Allawi-led Iraqiya party wins (91) seats in the parliamentary elections
Allawi's early life
Allawi was born in 1945 to a prominent Shia merchant family; his grandfather helped to negotiate Iraq's independence from Britain, and his father was an Iraqi Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. He became involved in Ba'athism
Ba'athism
Ba'athism is an Arab nationalist ideology that promotes the development and creation of an Arab nation through the leadership of a vanguard party over a progressive revolutionary state. The ideology is officially based on the theories of Zaki al-Arsuzi , Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar...
at a young age and organized against the government of Abdul Karim Qassim
Abdul Karim Qassim
Abd al-Karim Qasim , was a nationalist Iraqi Army general who seized power in a 1958 coup d'état, wherein the Iraqi monarchy was eliminated. He ruled the country as Prime Minister of Iraq until his downfall and death in 1963....
. In the 1960s, he studied at medical school in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. He graduated high school from Baghdad College
Baghdad College
Baghdad College is an elite high school for boys in Baghdad, Iraq. It is among the nation's most highly regarded preparatory schools, boasting several well-known alumni and countless Iraqi professionals and intellectuals now living throughout the world...
an American Catholic Jesuit high school, same as Ahmed Chalabi and Adil Abdul Mahdi.
Iyad Allawi's first cousin once removed is called Hayder Allawi, who works in the Government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
. His best friend is Iraqi business magnate
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
, Naji Aziz. Allawi is related to Ahmed Chalabi
Ahmed Chalabi
Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi is an Iraqi politician. He was interim oil minister in Iraq in April-May 2005 and December-January 2006 and deputy prime minister from May 2005 until May 2006. Chalabi failed to win a seat in parliament in the December 2005 elections, and when the new Iraqi cabinet was...
, another prominent former exile and now disgraced though somewhat rehabilitated U.S. ally, through Ahmed's sister. Former minister of trade Ali Allawi
Ali Allawi
Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi was Minister of Trade and Minister of Defense in the cabinet appointed by the Interim Iraq Governing Council from September 2003 until 2004, and subsequently Minister of Finance in the Iraqi Transitional Government between 2005 and 2006. A Shia Muslim, Allawi was part of the...
is Chalabi's sister's son as well as Iyad Allawi's cousin. The relationship between Chalabi and Allawi has been described as alternating between rivals and allies. In addition, Nouri Badran, interim Minister of Interior, is married to Iyad Allawi's sister.
Early political career
In 1971, he moved to London due to increasing differences with the Baath party and in order to continue his medical education. He resigned from the Baath party in 1975, "having decided that Saddam was exerting too much control over it". Allawi himself states that he remained active in the international Ba'athist movement but had no ties to the Iraqi Ba'atist party.At first Saddam, then Iraq's deputy president, pressured Allawi, who was in contact with senior military and party officers that were increasingly critical of Saddam, to rejoin the Ba'ath Party. In 1978, friends told Allawi that his name was on a liquidation list. In February 1978 Allawi was awoken in bed one night by an intruder in his Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
home, who proceeded to attack him with an axe. The intruder left, convinced that Allawi was dead as he lay in a pool of blood. He survived the attempted murder, and spent the next year in hospital recovering from his injuries. His first wife, Athour, was also wounded in the attack. It is presumed that the attack was an assassination attempt ordered by Saddam Hussein. He separated with his wife after mutual agreement.
The Iraqi National Accord
While still recovering in hospital from the attack, Allawi started organising an opposition network to work against the government of Saddam Hussein. Through the 1980s he built this network, recruiting Iraqis while traveling as a businessman and for the UNDP.In December 1990, Allawi announced the existence of the Iraqi National Accord
Iraqi National Accord
The Iraqi National Accord known inside Iraq as Wifaq is an Iraqi political party founded by Iyad Allawi and Salah Omar Al-Ali in 1991. Al-Ali subsequently left the party after he realised the extent of Allawi's links to foreign intelligence agencies, mainly the C.I.A. and MI6.It was founded at the...
(INA). Six years later, using disillusioned Baathists in the military and government, it mounted an unsuccessful coup in Baghdad. One of Allawi's allies in the INA was Salah Omar Al-Ali
Salah Omar Al-Ali
Salah Omar Al-Ali was a member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council, and Iraqi Minister of Culture and Information, serving from 1968 to 1970, and subsequently served as ambassador to Sweden, Spain and the United Nations from 1973 to 1981...
, a former member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council
Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council
The Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council was established after the military coup in 1968, and was the ultimate decision making body in Iraq before the 2003 American-led invasion. It exercised both executive and legislative authority in the country, with the Chairman and Vice Chairman chosen by a...
and ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. The INA received open backing from the UK, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The group consisted mainly of former military personnel who had defected from Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's Iraq to instigate a military coup. Allawi established links and worked with the CIA in 1992 as a counterpoint to the better-known CIA asset Ahmed Chalabi
Ahmed Chalabi
Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi is an Iraqi politician. He was interim oil minister in Iraq in April-May 2005 and December-January 2006 and deputy prime minister from May 2005 until May 2006. Chalabi failed to win a seat in parliament in the December 2005 elections, and when the new Iraqi cabinet was...
, and because of the INA's links in the Ba'athist establishment. It is alleged Allawi's INA organised attacks in Iraq. This campaign never posed a threat to Saddam Hussein's rule, but was designed to test INA's capability to effect regime change. Though Saddam's government claimed the attacks have caused up to 100 civilian deaths there are no true records of theses statistics to date.
A military coup was planned for 1996, in which Iraqi generals were to lead their units against Baghdad and remove Saddam Hussein. The CIA supported the plot, code-named DBACHILLES, and added Iraqi officers that were not part of INA. The plan ended in disaster as it had been infiltrated by agents loyal to Saddam. US support was also questionable - requests by the CIA station chief in Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
for American air support were refused by the Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
administration. Many participants were executed. Lands and factories belonging to the Allawi family were confiscated. Even their graveyard in Najaf
Najaf
Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
was seized, although it was later returned. According to Allawi, his family lost $250 million worth of assets. US support for INA continued, receiving $6 million in covert aid in 1996 and $5 million in 1995 (according to books by David Wurmser
David Wurmser
David Wurmser is a Swiss-born American foreign policy specialist. He served as Middle East Adviser to former US Vice President Dick Cheney, as special assistant to John R. Bolton at the State Department and as a research fellow on the Middle East at the American Enterprise Institute . He served in...
as well as Andrew
Andrew Cockburn
Andrew Cockburn is a journalist who has lived in the United States for many years.-Early life and family:Born in London in 1947, Cockburn grew up in County Cork, Ireland. His father was socialist author and journalist Claud Cockburn...
and Patrick Cockburn
Patrick Cockburn
Patrick Cockburn is an Irish journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent since 1979 for the Financial Times and, presently, The Independent....
).
The INA channelled the report from an Iraqi officer claiming that Iraq could deploy its supposed weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
within "45 minutes" to British Intelligence. This claim featured prominently in the September Dossier
September Dossier
Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government, also known as the September Dossier, was a document published by the British government on 24 September 2002 on the same day of a recall of Parliament to discuss the contents of the document...
which the British government released in 2002 to gain public support for the Iraq invasion
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. In the aftermath of the war, the "45 minute claim" was also at the heart of the confrontation between the British government and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, and the death of David Kelly later examined by Lord Hutton. Giving evidence to the Hutton Inquiry
Hutton Inquiry
The Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
, the head of MI6 Richard Dearlove
Richard Dearlove
Sir Richard Billing Dearlove, KCMG, OBE was head of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1999 until 6 May 2004.-Career:...
suggested that the claim related to battlefield weapons rather than weapons of mass destruction.
Post-Saddam
Shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the Coalition Provisional AuthorityCoalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
(the "CPA") was established by the occupying forces in order to administer the country until sovereignty could be restored. The CPA decided to establish a grouping of senior Iraqi politicians to carry out some administrative responsibilities, with a view to giving the occupation a more "Iraqi face". This grouping was referred to as the Governing Council, and was made up of 25 Iraqis that were appointed by the CPA. Allawi was one of those selected to serve on the Governing Council, and held the position of Minister of Defence (although his real responsibilities in that regard were limited considering Iraq remained under occupation). He held the rotating presidency
President of Iraq
The President of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution." The President is elected by the Council of...
of the interim governing council during October 2003. In April 2004, Allawi reportedly resigned as head of the IGC security committee over concerns of US bombing in Fallujah
Fallujah
Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
, according to a letter published in INA's newspaper.
In December 2003, he flew to CIA headquarters in Langley
Langley, Virginia
Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.The community was essentially absorbed into McLean many years ago, although there is still a Langley High School...
together with fellow INA official Nouri Badran to discuss detailed plans for setting up a domestic secret service. The agency was to be headed by Badran, a former Ba'athist who served Saddam as an ambassador until 1990, and, controversially, recruited several agents for Saddam's Mukhabarat. When the Iraqi National Intelligence Service
Iraqi National Intelligence Service
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service is an intelligence agency of the Iraqi government that was created in April 2004 on the authority of the Coalition Provisional Authority.-Background:...
was set up in March 2004, its designated director was Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed al-Shehwani, another former Ba'athist exile with ties to INA.
Interim Prime Minister
On May 28, 2004, he was elected unanimously by the Governing Council to be the Interim Prime Minister of IraqPrime Minister of Iraq
The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's head of government. Prime Minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the country's active executive authority...
to govern the country beginning with the United States' handover of sovereignty (June 30, 2004) until national elections, scheduled for early 2005. Although many believe the decision was reached largely on the advice of United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi
Lakhdar Brahimi
Lakhdar Brahimi is a veteran United Nations envoy and advisor. He retired from his duties at the end of 2005. Brahimi is a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, the first global initiative to focus specifically on the link between exclusion, poverty and law...
, the New York Times reported that Brahimi only endorsed him reluctantly after pressure from U.S. officials. (In response to a question about the role of the U.S. in Allawi's appointment, Brahimi replied:
“I sometimes say, I'm sure he doesn't mind me saying that, Bremer is the dictator of Iraq. He has the money. He has the signature. Nothing happens without his agreement in this country.” Two weeks later, Brahimi announced his resignation, due to "great difficulties and frustration".
Iraqi Interim Government
The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the Iraqi Transitional Government was installed following the Iraqi National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005...
, who were sworn in later that same day. After his interim government assumed legal custody of Saddam Hussein and re-introduced capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, Allawi gave assurances that he would not interfere with the trial and would accept any court decisions. In an interview with Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
-based TV station al-Arabiya he said: "As for the execution, that is for the court to decide — so long as a decision is reached impartially and fairly."
On July 17, two Australian newspapers, the Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, and The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, published an article alleging that one week before the handover of sovereignty, Allawi himself summarily executed six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station. The allegations were suspiciously made by two unnamed sources and the execution is said to have taken place in presence of about a dozen Iraqi police, four American security men and Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib. Mr Allawi reportedly said that the execution was to "send a clear message to the police on how to deal with insurgents". Both Allawi's office and Naqib have denied the report. Additionally, the allegations made by Sydney Morning Herald journalist Paul McGeough
Paul McGeough
Paul McGeough is an Irish Australian journalist and senior foreign correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, specialising in Middle Eastern affairs....
went largely unreported by mainstream American media. Iraq's Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin
Bakhtiar Amin
Bakhtiar Amin is a Kurdish Iraqi politician who was the Human Rights Minister in the Iraqi Interim Government from June 2004 to May 2005.- Background :Amin was born in Kirkuk...
pledged to investigate the allegations against his PM. However, the investigation never took place and the incident remains unclear.
Allawi's government also wrote a new emergency regulation, which allows the executive branch to declare martial law, impose curfews and detain suspects. Paul Bremer's aides said Allawi lacked the power to impose martial law, and Secretary of State Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
warned that the U.S. would not support such a move. "The last thing we want," says a senior U.S. official, "is for the world to think we're foisting a new strongman on Iraq." Though, in addition to the stick of martial law, the government planned to offer a carrot of a broad amnesty for insurgents who have taken up arms against the U.S.-led occupation forces. Allawi himself has made clear that his government will reach out to Iraqi insurgents who have fought the Coalition for "patriotic motives" while seeking to isolate and destroy foreign elements such as the network led by the Jordanian jihadist Musab al-Zarqawi. Allawi knew that both the Sunni insurgency and the one waged by supporters of Shiite firebrand Moqtada Sadr have significant popular support, while his own government has yet to win the loyalty of Iraqis. On July 18, Iraqi militants offered a $285,000 reward for anyone who could kill Iyad Allawi.
During the summer of 2004, Allawi made several decisions seen as controversial at the time, but later worked in his interest as they demonstrated to Iraqis that Allawi did not favour one sect over another, and that he was a strong leader not afraid to use force to bring back the rule of law. Most notably, his decision to support the military incursions of both Najaf
Najaf
Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
and Falluja made him extremely unpopular amongst some Iraqis at the time. He also announced the creation of General Security Directorate
General Security Directorate
The General Security Directorate was the intelligence agency of Iraq. It was announced by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi at a press conference in July 2004 in a climate of widespread violence by terrorist groups and the Iraqi insurgency...
, a domestic spy agency, whose main role is to counteract terrorist groups and the Iraqi insurgency
Iraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
.
Allawi led the Iraqi National Accord during the January 2005 Iraqi election
Iraqi legislative election, January 2005
Elections for the National Assembly of Iraq were held on January 30, 2005 in Iraq. The 275-member National Assembly was a parliament created under the Transitional Law during the Occupation of Iraq...
. His campaign was mainly characterised by his attempt to combat the character assassination that was led by Iranian-sponsored groups. His campaign suffered when he visited the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf on December 4, 2004, where an unknown group attacked him. Allawi claimed that it was an assassination attempt.
The INA came in at third place in the first elections, with 14% of the vote, which on a party versus coalition makes him head one of the largest represented parties. In the 2010 elections, Allawi's list won the most votes and beat incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by 2 seats.
Post-Prime Ministership
In preparation for the next parliamentary elections that took place in Iraq in December 2005Iraqi legislative election, December 2005
Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on 15 October 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives....
, Allawi formed an alliance between many groups, including secular Sunni and Shia groups and the Iraqi Communist Party
Iraqi Communist Party
Since its foundation in 1934, the Iraqi Communist Party has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a fundamental role in shaping the political history of Iraq between its foundation and the 1970s. The Party was involved in many of the most important national uprisings and demonstrations...
under one electoral list (the Iraqi National List
Iraqi National List
The Iraqi National List is a coalition of Iraqi political parties who ran in the December 2005 Iraqi elections and got 8.0% of the vote and 25 out of 275 seats...
).
The Iraqi National List was represented in the coalition government led by Nouri al-Maliki
Government of Iraq from 2006
The current government of Iraq took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005...
, but Allawi himself did not take a Cabinet post. The party eventually boycotted the government in 2007. In preparation for upcoming national elections, Allawi formed a new coalition with leading Shia politician Iskander Witwit (one of the leaders of the 1991 uprising against Saddam), Shia tribal Sheikh Hussein al-Shalan, the deputy Prime Minister Raffi al-Essawi, Sunni politician Saleh Mutlaq and Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi called the Iraqi National Movement.
The 2010 parliamentary election ended up with a weeks-long wait for an announcement of results by the Iraqi Election Commission. The results of the elections finally came on March 26, 2010, when Allawi's Iraqiya bloc was declared the biggest winner of the parliamentary election with two seats surpassing Allawi's rival al-Maliki's party in the Assembly.
Personal life
He faced several assassination attempts in England and throughout the Middle-East by agents of Saddam's regime.External links
- YouTube video on life of Ayad Allawi
- Resources on Ayad Allawi
- Op-Ed by Allawi published in NY Times November 2007
- Interview of Allawi with German Der Spiegel - in English
- Opinion Editorial in Washington Post by Dr Allawi 18/08/2007
- Personal website of Dr. Ayad Allawi - A vision for all
- - Ahlulbayt Television Network
- Website of the National Iraqi List for Dec 15 2005 elections
- Website of the Iraqi National Accord
- Text of Allawi's Speech to U.S. Congress, 23 September 2004
- Dow Jones Newswire, 24 January 2004
- Profile in The Guardian
- Transcript of interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, November 25 2007
- Profile on al-Jazeera
- Profile in The Times
- Profile in the New Yorker
- Short biography on middleeastreference.org.uk
- Disinfopedia entry
- Iraqi cleric slams war coverage under Allawi (Monday 23 August 2004, Aljazeera)
- The strongman of Baghdad (13. November 2004, The SpectatorThe SpectatorThe Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
) - Ayad Allawi on BBC Doha Debates, November 3, 2007, Doha, Qatar.
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