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"A government of technocrats should be formed to run the country during a transitional period to pave the way for a new political system," Gabbouri told IOL. |
DOHA — After years of fighting the US-led foreign troops in the battle filed, Iraqi resistance groups have decided it was time to project themselves politically through a media charm offensive.
"We believe that it is high time for us to have a media face," Ali Al-Gabbouri, spokesman for the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance (PCIR), told IslamOnline.net in an exclusive interview.
Formed in late 2007, the PCIR groups four major Iraqi resistance movements; the Army of Islam, the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Iraq Hamas) and Ansar al-Sunnah.
"The PCIR is a natural development of the Iraqi resistance, which believes it is now time to present its political initiatives," Gabbouri said.
Last month, 13 other Iraqi resistance groups named Sheikh Harith Al-Dari, the head of the Association of Muslim Scholars, as their official spokesman.
"All resistance groups agree that it is time to have spokesmen to present them in public and in the media," Gabbouri notes.
Gabbouri does not think that having different spokesmen for different groups would harm the unity of the resistance.
"The PCIR maintains good relations with all other resistance groups.
"We are confident that all resistance groups are working for the same goal of ending the US occupation."
Without a UN mandate, the US invaded Iraq in 2003 on claims of possessing weapons of mass destruction and links to Al-Qaeda, both proved ungrounded.
Last month, US combat troops redeployed outside cities and urban areas under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the Iraqi government.
The US, which has so far lost more than 4,332 troops since 2003, should withdraw completely from Iraq by 2011.
Political Agenda
Gabbouri said that the PCIR has drafted a political program and wants to present Iraqis as well as the Arab and international public opinion.
"We believe in the legitimate and legal right of the Iraqis to resist the occupation."
The PCIR argues for abolishing the current political system established after the 2003 US invasion.
"A government of technocrats should be formed to run the country during a transitional period to pave the way for establishing a new political system based on the principle of justice," said Gabbouri.
He insists that such a government should not have the authority to sign agreements, treaties or alliances that affect the future of Iraq.
The PCIR's political platform also underlines the need to maintain Iraq's Arab and Islamic identity and its territorial integrity.
"We also demand the release of detainees and the return of the displaced to their homes and compensating them."
Millions of Iraqis have been displaced internally over the past years because of the war, violence and sectarian strife.
Some two million are believed to have fled the country to escape the violence.
Attacks, which had dropped markedly in recent months, increased in the run-up to the US troop redeployment on June 30 and after.
More than 437 Iraqis were killed in June, the highest death toll in 11 months.
Five Iranian pilgrims died on Wednesday, July 22, when their minibuses were ambushed near Baquba, capital of Diyala province north of Baghdad.
The killings came a day after 24 people died in a wave of attacks across Iraq, one of the bloodiest days since the US redeployment.
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