Iraq opposition plans own post-Saddam govt

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq - Iraq's opposition said on Thursday it was planning its own government to succeed President Saddam Hussein once he is toppled by the U.S.-led war on Baghdad.

The United States endorses plans to help coordinate relief and security announced by a leadership committee last month after an opposition summit in Kurdish-held northern Iraq.

But Washington has discouraged the idea of a transitional government and plans a period of direct post-war military rule.

Plans for an opposition-run government were revealed in a statement from the leadership committee which includes Kurdish factions that run northern Iraq, an Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim group and a U.S.-funded body.

"On the eve of the liberation of Iraq, the leadership committee will announce an independent, transitional coalition government to run the affairs of the country and protect the dignity of its people, and its independence, national sovereignty and unity," the statement said.

The opposition has described U.S. plans for post-war rule as foreign occupation, while the U.S.-funded Iraqi National Congress has urged Washington to keep control of the country in Iraqi hands if and when the invasion forces oust Saddam.

The committee also called on the Iraqi people to prepare for an uprising against Saddam.

Washington is massing troops for a second front in the Kurdish north, an area controlled by two Kurdish factions which want U.S. support to preserve the autonomy they have had since wresting the area from Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War.

Other members of the committee include the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, whose fighters took part in a southern uprising after the last Gulf War which Washington encouraged, then saw Saddam crush.
Reuters/abs-cbnNEWS.com