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U.N. diplomat urges wider Iraqi talks
U.N. diplomat urges wider Iraqi talks
Dexter Filkins
New York Times
Jun. 3, 2004 12:00 AM
BAGHDAD - The United Nations special envoy called on the incoming Iraqi government Wednesday to broaden discussions to include Iraqis who oppose the American occupation, and he suggested that his own authority in shaping the new government had been sharply limited by U.S. officials.
Lakhdar Brahimi, at a news conference wrapping up a nearly monthlong visit here, suggested that the Americans were pursuing a strategy in Iraq that relied too heavily on force and not enough on subtlety and persuasion. Brahimi, who called L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator here, a "dictator," seemed to stop just short of calling on the United States to open talks with the insurgents.
"Why is there what is, I think, to use a neutral term, there is this insurgency?" Brahimi said, addressing reporters in both Arabic and English. "I think it's a little bit too easy to call everybody a terrorist. And I think if you find out that there are people who are not terrorists who are respectable, genuine Iraqi patriots, you must find a way of talking to them."
Brahimi suggested he might have done things differently if he had been given a freer hand in setting up the new government that was unveiled Tuesday. Asked about the selection of the prime minister, which became a divisive affair, he alluded to the role of Bremer.
"The government of Iraq, I sometimes say - I'm sure he doesn't mind my saying it - Bremer is the dictator of Iraq," Brahimi said. "He has the money. He has the signature. Nothing happens without his agreement in this country."
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