Papers slam chaos in Iraq
2003-06-30 16:00
Baghdad - The Iraqi press on Monday deplored the continuing chaos in the country nearly three months after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Newspapers speaking for Kurdish and Muslim interests were united in their condemnation of the lawlessness which has led to the frequent burning of public buildings.
"A pall of smoke often hangs over Baghdad as a result of fires set to public buildings," wrote Al-Ittihad, mouthpiece of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties that opposed Saddam.
"Does patriotism mean setting the country and its institutions on fire? Does resistance to US-British forces boil down to destroying the power grid to deprive citizens of electricity?" the newspaper asked.
"We must fight this misguided form of resistance if we are to build a new Iraq on the ruins of the former dictatorship," said Al-Ittihad.
The newspaper of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sairi), the main Shi'ite Muslim component of the former opposition to Saddam, expressed concern that public buildings were again being ravaged by fires without anyone knowing "the authors of such acts or who benefits from them".
Wave of looting and arson
Firefighters have resumed putting out fires in private properties, "but they turn a deaf ear when a public building is in flames", said Al-Adala.
Baghdad was gripped by a wave of looting and arson, targeting public buildings and other establishments in the wake of the April 9 ouster of Saddam's regime.
"It is hard to see how the security situation can improve when coalition forces are no longer interested, except in protecting themselves" against mounting attacks, said Al-Adala.
The paper carried a statement by a spokesman for Sairi's armed wing, the Badr Brigade, denying claims that it had circulated leaflets in Baghdad calling for attacks against US-led coalition forces and the assassination of supporters of the deposed Ba'ath regime.
The leaflets are "the work of malicious elements seeking to tarnish the image of the Badr Brigade and foment civil strife," said the spokesperson of the group comprising several thousand fighters.
The Badr Brigade is "striving seriously to turn into a civilian body that will devote itself to the reconstruction of Iraq," he said.
Sairi chief Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, who returned to Iraq in May from 23 years of exile in Iran, reiterated his opposition to violence targeting coalition forces in his latest Friday prayer sermon in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf.
- AFX