Kofi Annan Makes Surprise Visit To Iraq

In Iraq, Annan Appeals for Reconciliation

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051112/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 56 minutes ago
11/12/2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.N. chief Kofi Annan called Saturday for national reconciliation in Iraq during a surprise visit, arriving just as a car bomb exploded near a street market in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad and killed eight weekend shoppers.

Also, the highest-ranking official still at large from Saddam Hussein's regime, a man accused by the United States of playing a key role in organizing the insurgency against coalition forces, has died, a Baathist Web site reported.

Saturday's posting on a Web site run by former Baath Party members appeared to confirm an e-mail announcing the death of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri that circulated Friday. He was believed to be at least 62.

It was Annan's first trip to Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the third by a high-level international official in as many days. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Friday and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw the day before.

All three encouraged disaffected Sunni Arabs, who form the core of the insurgency, to participate in next month's parliamentary elections.

The U.N. leader also endorsed Arab League efforts to organize a conference bringing together Iraq's varied groups to heal the nation's divisions.

"This political transition process is extremely important," Annan said at U.N. offices. "It must be a process that is inclusive, transparent and takes into account concerns of all groups."

However, the leader of the biggest Shiite party, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, told Annan he was not interested in a conference that included Saddam loyalists, members of the former regime and Sunni religious fanatics believed responsible for suicide attacks against civilians.

That stance, which has been enunciated by other Iraqi Shiite officials, would appear to rule out participation by most of those fighting the U.S.-led coalition and its Iraqi allies.

For his part, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, also a Shiite, said he told Annan that Iraqi authorities want U.N. help in the Dec. 15 election, promoting democracy and in "improving the performance of Iraqi security forces" to fight Sunni insurgents.

Iraq's Shiites and Kurds have been suspicious of the Arab League, fearing it would favor the Sunni Arabs. Most Arab countries are majority Sunni, although Shiites form about 60 percent of Iraq's estimated 27 million people.

Annan referred to the need to curb ongoing violence — both in Iraq and neighboring Jordan, where suicide bombings Wednesday killed at least 57 people in three hotels in the capital of Amman. The al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group, which has carried out scores of attacks in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the Jordan bombings.

"Even those who are at a distance feel the pain and the misery that is being inflicted on families and innocent civilians," Annan said. "This behavior, this terrorism, this brutal behavior is absolutely unacceptable."

U.N. operations in Iraq were scaled down sharply after a truck bomber attacked the world body's headquarters at the Canal Hotel on Aug. 19, 2003. The attack killed 23 people, including the top U.N. envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

As Annan arrived in the capital, a car rigged with explosives detonated in the New Baghdad neighborhood as crowds shopped there. The eight dead included a woman and her 8-year-old daughter, police Lt. Col. Hassan Chaloub said. The explosion triggered a large fire that destroyed dozens of stalls in the market.

Meanwhile, a Web site operated outside the country by Baath Party officials announced the death of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the No. 2 figure in the ousted regime and the highest-ranking official still at large. The posting appeared to confirm an e-mail Friday announcing al-Douri's death.

"In the pure land of Iraq, the soul of comrade Izzat Ibrahim returned to God on Friday at dawn," said the Web site statement, which described al-Douri as the "field commander of the heroic resistance."

U.S. officials believed al-Douri, one of Saddam's oldest and closest associates, played a key role in organizing resistance that erupted in 2003 against the U.S.-led coalition and was instrumental in forging links between remnants of the ousted regime and Islamic extremists.

As the insurgency spread, the United States and its allies offered a $10 million reward for information leading to al-Douri's capture.

Attacks such as the Saturday car bomb have sharpened tensions between majority Shiites and minority Sunni Arabs at a time when U.S. and other officials have been trying to promote national unity ahead of Dec. 15 elections.

Shiites and Kurds dominate the security forces, while most of the insurgents are Sunni Arabs — complicating efforts to promote unity while simultaneously maintaining enough security so the election can proceed.

For example, Maj. Gen. Mahdi Sabyh Ibrahim announced Saturday that 310 people had been arrested in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, after a series of car bombings, ambushes and other acts of violence.

Two major Sunni Arab groups quickly condemned the arrests as acts of political repression.

"This act clearly indicates that (government officials) want to hinder the next elections and put obstacles in front of the Sunnis to prevent them from participating," said the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political organization.

The General Conference of the Iraqi People, led by top Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, demanded an end to the raids and called on international organizations "to take a firm stance against human rights violations."

Another Sunni Muslim politician who claims to have contacts with insurgent groups said Saturday that some of its members will run next month, and he gave their demands and conditions to start peace talks with U.S. forces.

"The resistance should have an active role to help Iraq get out of its crisis," former electricity minister Ayham al-Samarie said.

Minutes before al-Samarie spoke, a statement was distributed in his house that allegedly included the resistance's conditions to start peace talks, including a halt to all military operations, the release of all detainees, the withdrawal of foreign troops from cities and setting a timetable for foreign troops to leave.

U.S. officials have rejected such conditions in the past.