Bayati ruled out his government would impose emergency laws

By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO, June 30 (IslamOnline.net) – The interim Iraqi government will champion an all-inclusive security plan to put an end to the worsening security situation in the country by beefing up army and police apparatuses, a senior Iraqi official revealed Wednesday, June 30.

"The interim government will unveil the security plan, which has been drawn up by seasoned specialists, within days," Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Hamad Al-Bayati told IslamOnline.net over the phone from Baghdad.

On the plan’s key features, Bayati said it primarily focuses on building up a powerful national army equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, effective police and top-notch intelligence services.

"Thus, we will close the security file once and for all," stressed the diplomat.

He said the government would strike "terrorists and saboteurs" with an iron fist and adopt a zero-tolerance approach in dealing with them.

Interim premier Iyad Allawi said Saturday, June 26, he was prepared to take "necessary measures" within two weeks to crush a rising violence.

"The Iraqi security forces as well as the Iraqi army would be prepared in a week or two to impose the necessary measures to deal with the terrorists and the terrorist activities throughout the country," he said.

Arab Cooperation

Bayati further said that the Iraqi government has sought Arab cooperation to help stabilize the chaos-mired country and restore security.

"We’ve received positive responses from Arab and neighboring countries in this regard," he recalled.

Some countries, the senior diplomat added, are willing to help train the army and police.

So far, Jordan has trained about 4,000 Iraqi officers. The training has taken place at the kingdom's police academy southeast of the capital Amman.

On June 10, 531 Iraqi police cadets graduated from an eight-week training course in Jordan.

Sadr, Baathists

Asked whether the interim government will contain the militias of young Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr and his participation in the July national conference to choose an interim parliament, Bayati said Sadr has been already invited to attend the convention.

He added that invitations have been extended to Baathists to make a comeback to the Iraqi political fold.

But Bayati indicated that the invitations are conditional on their revoking of the party membership and denouncing the past era under ousted president Saddam Hussein.

The diplomat said every Iraqi citizen is entitled to run for the January elections which will be "fair and held under international supervision".

"Such elections will eventually bring about a coalition government representing Iraq’s political mosaic," he said.

Bayati also ruled out that the interim government would impose emergency laws and call off the elections should it fail in achieving security.

At least 93 Iraqis were killed and over 200 others injured in a series of coordinated attacks and clashes in several Iraqi cities on Thursday, June 24.

Two days later, two car bombs killed up to 40 Iraqis and wounded at least 22 others south of Baghdad.

Iraqi Muslim scholars denounced Tuesday, June 29, the string of indiscriminate attacks that claimed the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians, ruling that such blasts are totally prohibited in Islam.