·
U.S. using deceitful methods to pass the Security Agreement
·
Iraqi Communist Party calls for amendments to the Agreement
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Draft agreement does not fulfil the aspirations of the Iraqi people
·
Fundamental objective is evacuation of foreign troops and regaining
sovereignty and independence
31/10/2008
The Iraqi
Communist Party organised a big meeting in Baghdad on Friday 30-10-2008 to
present its position on the proposed Iraq - U.S. Agreement. The meeting,
attended by about 1000 people, was addressed by Hameed Majid Mousa, the
Secretary of the Central Committee of the party. The following are excerpts
from media coverage of the event as reported by news agencies:
The leader of the
Iraqi Communist Party, Hameed Majid Mousa, announced the party's position,
rejecting the security agreement in its present form, and calling for
amendments to it, in addition to scheduling the withdrawal of U.S. troops from
Iraq.
Mousa said the party
will not agree to pass the Agreement with the U.S. unless the recent
amendments demanded by the Iraqi government are made. He added that the
American side is using illegitimate and deceitful means to pass the agreement
as currently drafted.
Mousa, who is also a
member of the Iraqi parliament, said that the present draft agreement with its
articles "does not fulfil the aspirations of the Iraqi people, and contains a
lot of vagueness and uncertainty."
"We must always
demonstrate a high sense of responsibility with regard to the consequences of
the agreement and its applications, in order to achieve the fundamental
objective sought from it: the withdrawal or evacuation of foreign troops, and
the Iraqi people regaining their sovereignty and independence. The armed
forces must be qualified and provide the alternative to foreign troops. We are
therefore facing an urgent and grave task that requires providing the
prerequisites for an agreement that enables the Iraqis to secure their
rights."
The Iraqi CP leader
stressed the need to have open and transparent negotiations as well as relying
on the mobilization of the masses when demanding to amend the terms of the
draft agreement, pointing to the lack of parity between the Iraqi and American
negotiators.
He criticized what he
described as the media campaign, by American and Arab media that dealt with
agreement. "There has been a huge publicity campaign by U.S. media claiming
that Iraq will return to the state of chaos that prevailed after the fall of
the former regime in 2003, and that it would lose the aid and support given to
it in the area of arming and training Iraqi security forces, and other
matters, in an attempt to undermine the Iraqi side in the negotiations."
Mousa described these
threats as "nothing but hollow drums designed to force the Iraqi side to sign
the security agreement with Washington against its will."
He said: "If you have
followed the U.S. media, you would be amazed by what has been said.
Unfortunately, many of the Arab and regional media have also behaved in a
similar manner, despite having different intentions. But they have exerted
pressure, in various ways, on the Iraqi side and employed psychological
warfare against the Iraqi negotiators."
He drew attention to
the need "to amend the terms concerning control over the American mail
entering Iraq so that the Iraqi side has the authority to control and inspect
it." In addition, "the powers of U.S. troops on Iraqi territory need to be
specified." The agreement need to include "protection for Iraqi funds in all
countries of the world, and not to be confined to Iraqi funds in U.S. banks.”
The Iraqi Communist
Party leader pointed to the ratification by the Council of Ministers in the
past few days of a memo that contained the demands of Iraqi political forces
to amend the terms of the draft agreement, so as to form the basis for its
conclusion. He called at the same time on the Iraqi parties to take a unified
position through which a fair agreement can be secured without coercion or
pressure directed on the Iraqi side.
