WASHINGTON Ñ The Bush administration has agreed to fund and coordinate
intelligence operations by the Iraqi opposition.
The administration's decision would remove the State Department from
overseeing many of the INC activities. The department had been holding up
millions of dollars in funds to the Iraqi opposition amid a dispute over the
use of the money.
Officials said the Iraqi National Congress would receive an unspecified
budget for intelligence missions in Iraq. They said INC missions would be
supervised by the Defense Department.
For two years, the INC was urging the administration to provide money
for intelligence
and sabotage missions, Middle East Newsline reported. The State Department had refused.
But officials said the administration has now told the INC and other
opposition groups that the Pentagon would work with them to engage in
military activities not under the purview of the State Department. The
officials said the
State Department and Pentagon are discussing the new arrangement.
"My understanding is that the State Department, DOD [Department of
Defense] and the INC are working together on transferring some
responsibilities for information-gathering activities by the INC from State
to DOD," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "The details have not been
worked out. The discussions are under way. And as it involves
information-gathering, I guess that's all I'd be inclined to say about it.
It's an administrative issue that's being sorted out."
Over the weekend, two senior officials from the Pentagon and State
Department met representatives from the INC, Iraqi National Accord, the
Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the
Constitutional Monarchy Movement and the Teheran-based Supreme Council of
the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Later, the Iraqi opposition envoys were addressed by Vice President
Richard Cheney via a video-conference call. Additional meetings between the
Iraqi opposition and U.S. officials have been planned for this week.
INC leader Ahmad Chalaby said after Friday's meeting that the Iraqi
opposition sensed greater seriousness and commitment from the U.S.
government to overthrow the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Other
Iraqi opposition sources said Washington has granted the Iraqi opposition
the
green light to establish bases in countries that border Iraq.
"The United States and the Iraqi opposition share a vision of a better
future for the Iraqi people after the departure of Saddam Hussein and his
regime," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said. "Our vision is for a
democratic Iraq with a government that respects the rights of its citizens
and the rule of law, no longer threatens its neighbors, renounces the
development and possession of weapons of mass destruction, and maintains the
territorial integrity of the country."
