Iraq is one of the main topics on the summit’s agenda (in addition to Palestine), and according to most Arab media sources, the circulated draft that calls on the Iraqi government to review its constitution and de-Ba'thification laws, and to afford more “equitable” political representation will most likely be adopted in the summit’s final proclamation. The draft also says that the unity and sovereignty of Iraq should be upheld, as well as its “Arab and Islamic identity”; and urges the Iraqi government to achieve “veritable national reconciliation.”
In the first official Iraqi reaction to the Arab project, the Iraqi foreign minister, Hushyar Zibari, harshly criticized the draft and the demands it places upon the Iraqi government. “We do not need edicts from the Arab states,” Zibari told AFP, “we tell them that national reconciliation is our idea, not theirs,” he added.
Zibari’s blunt attack on the Arab draft stands in opposition to the more positive and optimistic assessment of the summit expressed by the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani. Al-Mada reported that Talabani said in a press conference in Sulaymaniya, before departing to Saudi Arabia, that “the preludes seem encouraging” and that the summit will produce “positive outcomes for the Iraqi people.”
Zibari’s incendiary comments were prominently displayed on Az-Zaman’s front page; while al-Mada tried to underplay his most vehement remarks. Zibari (who happens to be the nephew of the Kurdish leader Mas'ud al-Barazani) did not express disagreement with any of the articles of the Arab draft, in fact, he acknowledged that the Iraqi government is intent on reviewing the constitution and de-Ba'thification “without it being asked to do so;” he also stressed that the Iraqi government “understands its duties towards its people” and is committed to national reconciliation.
Zibari, however, repeated the Iraqi demands that will be advanced at the summit, including the cancellation of Iraqi debts and the cooperation of neighboring states in security matters. He also criticized what he saw as an Arab inaction vis-à-vis the Iraqi dossier.
Meanwhile, Az-Zaman (international edition) reported that the Syrian delegation to the Arab summit has criticized the Iraqi law proposal which aims at replacing the de-Ba'thification legislations with an “accountability and justice” law. The newspaper quoted a member of the Syrian delegation as saying that the proposed law “will make most of the Iraqi people a target, and anyone could be accused.”Proponents of the new law claim that it would open the window for most ex-Ba'thists to be reinstated in public institutions, except for the top party leaders.
On the same topic, Az-Zaman interviewed Mithal al-Alusi, the Iraqi MP who used to chair the De-Ba'thification committee. Alusi critiqued the recent calls for including the Ba'th in the new “political process,” stating that he is against “betting on the Ba'th;” Alusi also expressed his wishes that “the Ba'th would disappear from the political map of the Arab World,” adding that “he will work on ending the Ba'thist regime in Syria.”
Lastly, pan-Arab al-Hayat announced that the Iraqi artist Jawad al-Asadi will be founding a theatre in Beirut under the name “Babylon Theatre.” Al-Asadi is considered to be one of the most innovative and progressive Iraqi directors of his generation. He has spent much of his life in exile; writing, directing and acting in numerous plays that brought him wide acclaim in the Arab cultural circles.
Al-Asadi expressed his regret for not being able to realize his project in Iraq: “Iraq, which was endowed with varied ambiances, with many colors and shapes...is now fading and being reduced to a single color, one that is sectarian or tribal, vengeful and authoritarian;” he lamented.
