Picking new leaders becomes problematic in Basra
The British forces that control Iraq’s second city Basra have not had a smooth ride trying to set up the first country’s first post-war civilian administration.
Initially, they tapped a local tribal leader, Sheik Muzahim Mustafa Kanan Tamimi, to head it for them.
But criticism of the choice has illustrated the difficulties the Allies face across the country in choosing new leaders, local or otherwise, from among Iraq’s divided interests.
Opponents of Sheik Tamimi say he is a former Iraqi general and a one-time Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party.
His supporters insist his brother’s death at the hands of the former regime guarantees his anti-Saddam credentials.
Tamimi was to be given a free hand setting up an administrative committee representing various regional groups.
The civilian leadership would mirror what US-appointed Jay Garner, the retired general charged with forming an interim post-war administration, was hoping to do in defining a new leadership for the entire country.
The troubles started after it emerged that Tamimi, a Shiite Muslim, had been a brigadier general in the Iraqi military and a member of Saddam’s repressive Baath Party.
The problems that have erupted reveal the long-time enmity that has existed between majority Shiite Muslims and the Sunni minority that dominated Hussein’s government, as well as deep tribal rivalries that have grown in recent years.
Yesterday, about 100 people drove up to Talimi Hospital in central Basra, where rumour had it Tamimi was holding a meeting.
They pulled out protest banners, chanting “No to Muzahim” and “Yes to democracy and freedom” and pushing up against the hospital’s gates.
“We don’t want a tribal government here in Iraq,” said one protester, a 23-year-old civil engineer who gave his name as Mohammed. “We don’t want Muzahim because he is loyal to the Baath Party.
They are going to have a new name, but they are part of the old government.”
Another demonstrator, Ali Adnan, 29, said he wanted the British forces to take control until free and democratic elections could be held.
“We want a list of people from outside Iraq – the ones who are clean, with no ties to the old regime,” he said.
After 15 minutes, once they had conveyed their message to reporters, the protest melted away as quickly as it had began and the demonstrators were driven off.
Just inside the hospital’s gates, dozens of the sheik’s supporters, who were patiently waiting for him as well, brushed off the protesters’ complaints as those of rival tribe members who were former Baathists themselves.
“All Iraqi people are Baathists. If you wanted to work, you must be a member of Baath Party,” said Abu Sabah, a businessman and long-time Tamimi friend. “If you wanted to eat, you must be a Baathist. People had no choice under Saddam Hussein.”
Tamimi has been an enemy of the government for a long time, but he renounced ties completely in 1994 after his younger brother was assassinated in Basra by the secret police, Sabah said.
His brother’s execution, acknowledged by many as a ”martyr’s death,” is proof that Tamimi holds no love for the former regime, said Sabah.
“Everyone knows that he hates Saddam Hussein,” he said.
Yesterday, British military officials acknowledged Tamimi’s problematic past - but said party membership in itself was not proof of guilt.
“Some members were very much on the regime side of the Baath Party,” said Lt Col Paul Harrington. “But there were others who had to be members of the Baath Party to carry out jobs they were doing to help the community. So we want to be careful with tarring everyone with the same brush.”
At the same time, Harrington also backed off the earlier British announcement that Tamimi – initially described as ”worthwhile and credible” – had been officially installed as the de facto head of Basra’s new civil government.
British officials will be drawing up the new civilian authority based on input, opinions, and advice from a broad range of local leaders, including sheiks, businessmen and other civic leaders, he said.
“There’s no designated leaders – nobody authorised or appointed,” Harrington said. “We are merely in the consultative stage. We want a broad base, broad representation from the community.”
