Iraq’s Speaker Salim Jabouri is facing heavy criticism from
the Shiite lists for participating in a conference in Qatar that included
insurgents and members of the Baath Party. Jabouri claimed he didn’t go to the
conference, and tried to cover his attendance by visiting Tehran immediately
afterward, but that has not gotten him out of the hot seat. He is being accused
of treason, and the State of Law list threatened to dismiss him. This was
another major misstep by the Sunni leadership of Iraq.
On September 2, 2015 a conference
convened in Qatar’s Doha that included Sunni politicians, the Islamic Army
insurgent group, and representatives from the Baath Party. The Iraqi papers named
at least ten Sunni members of parliament that attended, along with Farhan Hassan
the leader of the Islamic Army, former Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi who has
a death sentence against him in Iraq, ex-Finance Minister Rafi Issawi who also has
arrest warrants out for him, and a delegation from the Baath. The Baath Party
claimed that Qatar’s Foreign Minister and some ambassadors from Gulf states
such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait were there as well. Speaker
Salim Jabouri attended, but then denied it. He claimed that he was only in
Qatar to meet the country’s premier. Probably knowing how controversial a move
this would be considered back in Iraq with the Shiite parties the speaker then
went to Tehran
immediately afterward. Jabouri was helped by the fact that the Baath denied
that it met with any Iraqi politicians.
The meeting was supposed to be about reconciliation and was
hosted by the Qatari authorities, but it was considered anti-government back in
Baghdad. Some Iraqi politicians said that Jabouri was a traitor for going, and
Premier Haider Abadi’s State of Law list told the press that it had collected
over one hundred signatures on a petition calling for the dismissal of the
speaker. The National Alliance, which is a collection of the largest Shiite
parties compared the Doha meeting with the Anbar sit in movement that it
connected with the insurgency and the Islamic State. Individual Shiite
politicians condemned the conference as a threat to the country’s security and
interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.
There’s no way that Speaker Jabouri could not have seen the
criticism that he would face for going to Qatar. Similar meetings have been
roundly condemned as well by Iraq’s Shiite political establishment, and the
inclusion of the Baath at Doha only pushed it over the edge. Jabouri surely
should have predicted the same reception. While it was not pro-Islamic State as
some have said, it obviously included insurgent elements. Aron
Lund wrote for Syria Comment that the get together might have been an
opportunity for the Sunnis to form an anti-IS political front. While both the
Islamic Army and the Baath cooperated with IS during the summer 2014 offensive
they have since been pushed out of their strongholds by the Islamists and
barely operate as fighting forces anymore. While the idea of taking an enemy of
my enemy is a friend approach might seem appealing there is no way that the
Shiite parties are willing to do that especially with the hated Baath, which is
still considered a threat to the new Iraq. Instead, the Qatar conference might
be seen as another sign of political dysfunction within Iraq’s Sunni parties.
The Sunni lists barely represent their constituencies anymore since so much of
their home provinces are under militant control. They still have not agreed to
any of Abadi’s reform program that might actually help their community like the
National Guard Bill. Instead they go to these conferences that only cause more
distrust and dissension. Jabouri has been an exception because he has been
willing to work with Abadi and has attempted to push parliament towards greater
action. Now he has undermined his reputation by making the mistake of going to
Qatar.
SOURCES
AIN, “Parliamentary Law: Qatar conference yesterday was a
threat to the security of the state and the judiciary should take action
against those who participated in it,” 9/6/15
Lund, Aron, “The Doha Congress: Negotiating a Return of the
Iraqi Baath Party?” Syria Comment, 9/5/15
Al Mada, “State of Law calls for sacking of al-Jubouri legal
committee stresses requires the approval of 175 deputies,” 9/7/15
Al Masalah, “Who are the Iraqi politicians who attended the
Doha conference?” 9/6/15
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