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In the name of God the Compassionate and the Merciful
2006 was an extremely bad year. Violence and Terrorism increased in Iraq
Financial and administrative corruption spread and in it was a difficult political birth in that environment
According to given events, I expect 2007 to be a very difficult year
and we may perhaps witness the demise of the wave of terrorism existing in Iraq and imposed on Iraq
2007 will be fore the benefit of the state institutions, strengthening them more
We will witness more stability in the political system, getting rid of armed and non armed rivals
Therefore, it is democracy that we fear for and not the state
In the past we had fears because the state institutions were weak and we feared their destruction, but in 2007 we will witness the opposite
State institutions will be strong and the war will be concentrated more on terrorism
WE also wish that the war would be focused on terrorists only and hope it will not expand to political opponents
because we cannot talk about democracy without having a peaceful and political opposition
What were the conditions of Iraq and do you have any expectations for it?
The political process in Iraq was built on strong and realistic foundations
Those were democracy, peaceful conduct of authority and diversity
Although there were deviations in actual practice; instead of good and sound political life
religious groups became parties and Shiites became a political party
And this both wrong and catastrophic for both Shiites and politics at the same time
Sunnis became a political party and again this is also catastrophic for both Sunnis and politics
this is an error of application and not of theory. the theory is correct as the Iraqi Constitution does not contain
any clause stating that parties must be philosophical or religious or sectarian or ethnic or so on
But this is the choice of people. Therefore the foundations are correct but the application was wrong. Maybe it was discovered
I think Iraqi politicians discovered, although rather late, the graveness of their action
militarizing their confessional sectors, organizing those sectors into political parties and ultimately
entering the elections under sectarian slogans, which only caused the tearing of Iraq, or leading to civil war, or was about to cause a civil war
Now on the political horizon, there is a vision to create a new political formation built on a national foundation
and not on the basis of ethnic or sectarian quotas
If we continue these sectarian ethnic quotas we will certainly witness the Lebanonization of Iraq
We will have civil wars or witness the partitioning of Iraq
The political process does not collapse by a bombing operation here and there
Yes, I agree it hurts people but neither the state nor the political system would collapse
There will be no turning back. Yes these matters are harmful to both people and the economy
I did say that I expect 2007 to be the year for eliminating disputes, settling of disputes and ending these phenomena
But no militia should replace another militia or should power replace power or bandits replace bandits
The state must take over. The state must be the one to be backed up as well as
the political process in order to enable them to be the logical replacement to the culture of militias and bandits
How would you describe the situation in Palestine? How was it a year ago and how will it be in the future?
In Palestine both elections and the political process took place and both were under the pressure of the USA
That means that the USA has put enormous pressure on the Palestinian leadership to hold these elections
therefore they have to deal with the outcome of such elections. It is a legally elected government and it must be dealt with on that basis
Moreover, this government must know and differentiate between slogans and practical reasonable issues
To hope for something is one thing and what is actually happening is another. The truth is that you can neither pay the teachers' nor the nurses salaries
Hospitals have stopped operating, the whole government has stopped
people's lives have stopped; and you are held responsible
I think if you were to hold a referendum for the Palestinian nation and ask them: what do you want?
they would answer that we want to live and we want relief for our lives
It is true that you have won the elections and you have the right to be the voice of the people who elected you
but those who elected you are in distress and feel awkward
and the politician's characteristic is to harmonize between the slogans he raised in his election campaign
and the actual situation. Perhaps there is a mutual failure of international forces
that put pressure between this government and the government
that cannot reconcile its slogans and reality
How did you see the situation in Lebanon? How do you think it will be in the future?
In Lebanon, there is a clear struggle for power
between the opposition who wants to participate in governing in a genuine manner
and the ruling party who wants things to remain as they are now
and this is realistic for now. But it is not realistic and forbidden that the religion and the sect be used as a weapon in this battle
perhaps there is an error in the general opinion and there is fault that may not be committed
which is using the religion or sect or the sectarian or religious sense in this battle
This exists not only in Lebanon but in Iraq and perhaps we will hear voices from Turkey or outside Turkey
all would converge on the Sunni-Shiite struggle. Politicians in Lebanon and outside Lebanon
must stay away from making the struggle sectarian. It is a political struggle for power and rule and it is a historical struggle that exists
but we do not present it in its religious context; we make it look as if it were a struggle between Sunnis and Shiites
This is a real catastrophe not only for Lebanon, but for Saudi Arabia where they have SHiites in the eastern area
a major source of oil. 90% of its residents are Shiite and are deprived of any civil rights among other rights and that is clear
An increase of sectarian feelings is wrong and catastrophic for Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and every state in the region
IT kills the idea of the nation state and the citizenship state. That is why we tell the political parties in Lebanon that they must stay away because not only Lebanon will burn from this
the entire region will burn. It is enough what has happened in Iraq. What is happening in Iraq is also a political struggle for governing between people
to whom the power was offered on a golden platter, and they are the rulers of the new regime. But for the BAathists, it was a loss of power. This is the reality of the struggle
some people came and took over power, and other people lost power
we either give the rulers the description of Sunni or Shiite; and that the Sunnis have lost and the Shiites have won is not correct
It is a lie. The Shiites did not win, and the Sunnis did not lose; and the opposite is not true either
If you go to the Shiite areas now, what would you see they have won? And if you go to the Sunni areas and see what they have now... poverty is poverty, hunger is hunger and disease is the same disease
There is a political struggle so why should we give it a religious or sectarian attire
Why do we present the state of affairs picture in this way, whether in Iraq or Lebanon
I only mentioned Saudi Arabia because it has political weight through which it can influence Lebanon
and some Lebanese politicians who respect Saudi opinion