WASHINGTON, 31 May 2004 - Iyad Allawi has the experience to lead Iraq, but may run into trouble because of his close former ties to the US Central Intelligence Agency, Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday.
Allawi, nominated by Iraq's Governing Council to be prime minister after the June 30 handover of power, is "a very experienced Iraqi politician" who suffered "grievously" under the former dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, Lugar told the Fox News Sunday television program.
But the Republican senator wondered how Iraqis might view reports of Allawi's apparent CIA connections. "Reports in the news have indicated that he has cooperated with our CIA. Some see this as a good attribute, some a detriment ... that is, that he might be too closely associated with the United States," Lugar noted.
"He was on, apparently, a short list of a few candidates that Ambassador (Lakhdar) Brahimi of the UN was considering. And his selection came to some, even in our government, as a surprise," Lugar confessed.
"But nevertheless, a very experienced Iraqi politician. And the question will be whether Iraqis see him likewise, as an Iraqi, as a person who is prepared really to accept sovereignty and use it," he said.
Asked about the ongoing conflict in Iraq and President George W. Bush's handover plans for the country, Lugar added:" We are not an overwhelming force. We have not been accepted by the Iraqis."
