Short of recognition
The GCC support for the new Iraqi Governing Council is believed to be a compromise to appease all parties. Ahmed Mustafa reports
Iraq's Interim Governing Council (IGC) delegation recently visited five of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Skipping a visit to Doha, the delegation headed by current President Ibrahim Al-Jaafari went to Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Manama, Kuwait, and Jeddah, before heading to Cairo. The tour will continue in Amman, Sana'a, and Teheran. According to Al-Jaafari, the official goal of the Gulf-state visits is to meet officials of those states and review the "latest developments in Iraq and ongoing Arab and international efforts aimed at enabling Iraq to recover its sovereignty", in addition to the "practical steps" the council would take with regard to the allocation of ministerial portfolios and the proposed constitution.
The Iraqi delegation began the tour in Abu Dhabi, where former Saddam regime figures like Information Minister Said Al- Sahhaf and UN Ambassador Mohamed Al- Dori have taken refuge. It held "fruitful" talks with the Emirate's Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan. According to the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) official news agency, Wikalat Anbaa Al-Emarat, Sheikh Khalifa voiced the UAE's "support for the council's efforts to realise the Iraqi people's aspirations for the restoration of security and stability, the formation of an Iraqi government and the drafting of a constitution".
This message of support for the process in which the IGC is engaged stopped short of recognising that body as the legitimate representative of the Iraqi people. Such a message of dual affirmation and non- recognition was repeated in other Gulf capitals and was similar to the UN Security Council's Resolution 1500, which affirmed the IGC's role in rebuilding Iraq while refusing to recognise it as a sovereign, representative body.
In Oman, the delegation held talks with a cabinet minister, and in Bahrain it was also welcomed by senior officials. The highest-level meeting was in Kuwait, with Prime Minister Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Despite the fact that neither the Arab League nor the Gulf states visited officially recognise the IGC's sovereignty, Al-Jaafari nevertheless felt an important level of recognition was achieved in the visits.
"Such treatment and reception... is recognition and we will not forget this," Al-Jaafari said after meeting the Kuwaiti prime minister. Al-Jaafari said Arab recognition was "a very important issue" for the council because "Iraq was part of the Arab family."
Though Kuwait has been the staunchest critic of the Arab League's non-recognition of the IGC, even it would not confirm that expeditious diplomatic relations will be established with Baghdad.
In Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi delegation met with Defence Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul-Aziz, Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul-Aziz and other Saudi officials.
Among the topics discussed during these visits were the formation of the first post-Saddam government and the possibility of financial assistance. Americans are keen to persuade the GCC countries to scrap tens of billions of dollars of Iraqi debt, and to help in humanitarian assistance efforts for the Iraqi people. There is no clear indication that any Gulf capital gave the Iraqi delegation a firm commitment on the issue.
No official explanation was given for not visiting Qatar, but Gulf analysts came up with a couple of reasons. Due to regional politicking, the Saudi visit may not have materialised if the IGC had gone to Doha. Furthermore, noting Qatar's special relationship with the US, the IGC may have been instructed by Coalition Provisional Authority Head Paul Bremmer that it need not put much effort into securing Doha's support.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 28 August - 3 September 2003 (Issue No. 653)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/653/re11.htm