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Iraq's square pegs in round
holes
By Charles Recknagel
PRAGUE - United States officials in Iraq have
not given many details as to why they arrested al-Najaf
mayor Abdul Munim Abud, locally known as Abu Haydar,
except to say that he is guilty of misuse of power.
A spokesman for the Coalition Provisional
Authority (CPA) told reporters after the US-appointed
mayor was detained on Tuesday that he would be charged
with pressuring government officials to commit financial
crimes, attacking a bank official, and theft. He is also
accused of kidnapping. The mayor was detained along with
61 members of his entourage.
The unidentified
CPA spokesmen said that - given the mayor's behavior -
it was "clearly a mistake to appoint him". He also said
such developments were to be expected as some people
handed power by Washington may prove unsuitable to the
job. As the spokesman expressed it, "We've said all
along we would make mistakes in this process."
Correspondents say that Abud was a controversial
figure for many people in al-Najaf from the moment of
his appointment in early May. A former colonel in the
Iraqi army, he is a Sunni Muslim in a city that is a
leadership center for the Shi'ite community, which makes
up some 60 percent of Iraq's population.
Mohamed
Ali Haidari, a broadcaster with RFE/RL's Radio Free
Iraq, has been closely following the situation in
al-Najaf. He says that people in al-Najaf resented
Abud's appointment because he was seen as an outsider
with no connection to the city. "Al-Najafi people
weren't happy with his appointment two months ago. The
first reason for this unhappiness was because he is
Sunni, not Shi'ite, and al-Najaf is one of the holy
cities for the Shi'ites in Iraq and the whole world. And
people there were expecting that someone from their city
would be their mayor. So they were very disappointed
when the [US] administration decided to [appoint him as]
the mayor of al-Najaf without any election and without
consultation with the religious or political leaders of
the city," Haidari said.
Haidari says that the
second reason al-Najaf residents were upset at Abud's
appointment was that he had been accused of being a
member of the former Ba'ath Party in Iraq. "And they
don't want to see someone who looks like a symbol for
the former regime," says Haidari. Al-Najaf "was one of
the cities where a lot of clerics and religious leaders,
in addition to some Shi'ite political activists, were
either arrested or killed or executed under the former
regime."
The Washington Post reported in early
May that US officials had appointed Abud because he had
prior experience in the administration of al-Najaf. Abud
was reported to have told US military officials he also
was a leader of a little-known militia group - the
National Unity Coalition - dedicated to overthrowing
former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and that his militia
had joined with the Americans in liberating the city.
The newspaper also reported that Abud had
impressed US authorities with his work ethic and calm,
decisive manner. As US troops trained a new 1,500-man
police force for the city, Abud was allowed to maintain
his armed militia as his personal bodyguards and often
said that they would disarm several other militias
protecting key Shi'ite religious leaders in the city.
Rivalries between those leaders have at times threatened
to create unrest and are believed to be behind the
murder of one prominent cleric - Sheikh Abdel Majid
al-Khoei - shortly after he returned to al-Najaf from
London in April.
The popular resentment of Abud
set off several street protests and frequent complaints
to the city's judicial authorities. The mayor was
arrested this week at the request of an Iraqi judge and
a locally-appointed special prosecutor. He is to be
tried under Iraqi law.
The problem now facing US
authorities in al-Najaf is how to replace Abud. The CPA
last month canceled plans for a general election to
popularly select a mayor from some 19 declared
candidates, including Abud himself. US military
spokesmen said at the time that the plans were put off
indefinitely due to security concerns and a lack of
voting lists.
Now, with Abud's arrest making the
issue pressing, the CPA is expected to set up a
22-member civic council to name his replacement. Until
it does, the deputy interim governor in al-Najaf will
take over.
The creation of a civic council would
follow a successful model already used by the CPA to
choose a mayor in Mosul and some other Iraqi cities. In
Mosul, more than 200 delegates from that city's Arab,
Kurd, Christian and Turkmen communities gathered at a
social club in early May to choose a new mayor and city
council. US officials have said the new leadership in
Mosul is meant to hold power until an open election for
a permanent civil government can take place in a year or
two.
By arresting al-Najaf's US-appointed
interim mayor this week, coalition officials underlined
an increasing readiness to move on from their early
reliance on the local powerbrokers they adopted
immediately after the war to help keep the peace. The
record of those powerbrokers so far has been mixed, with
London previously sacking its appointed governor of
Basra after he was rejected by tribal chiefs.
Announcing Abud's detention, the CPA said that
the move would serve as a warning to Iraqi officials
that - whether they are appointed by the allies or
chosen by popular councils - they must obey the law. A
spokesman said, "This will send a message to all the
governors that they are to be held accountable for their
actions."
Copyright (c) 2002, RFE/RL Inc.
Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC
20036
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