Iraq, February 15, 2005
In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate
The anti-occupation Iraqi patriotic forces met in Um al-Qura Mosque on February 15, 2005 to discuss the present situation and its implications on all levels. The participants discussed proposals aiming at restoring Iraq`s full independence, unity and sovereignty. The participant forces proclaim that they deal with the national reconciliation, which they were the first to call for since the beginning of the occupation, and with the writing of the constitution, on the basis of what follows:
1) A clear, precise, public, and binding under international guarantees, timetable for the withdrawal of the occupation troops from Iraq in all their aspects and forms.
2) Abolition of the principle of repartition according to sectarian, racial or ethnic lines, and adoption of the principle of citizenship and equality in rights and duties in front of the law.
3) Acknowledgement of the principle of the right of the Iraqi people to reject occupation; recognition of the Iraqi resistance and its legitimate right to defend its country and its resources; rejection of terrorism which takes aim at innocent Iraqis, facilities and institutions of public utility, and places of worship -- mosques, husseiniyyat [Shia religious centers], churches and all holy places.
4) Since the elections that took place lacked legitimacy due to the fact that they were based on the Administrative Law [the Bremer-designed TAL, contested by Sistani himself], lacked legal and security conditions, were boycotted by a large number of people and rigged, the administration that will result from these elections does not have the right to conclude any agreement or treaty infringing on Iraq`s sovereignty, the unity of its people, its land and its economy, and the preservation of its riches.
5) Adoption of democracy and election as the only option for the transfer of power, and the preparation of conditions and laws allowing the political process to take place in honest and transparent conditions, under neutral international supervision.
6) Affirmation of the patriotic, Arab and Islamic identity of Iraq, and firm opposition to all positions that might lead to the loss of this identity.
7) Liberation of all prisoners and detainees in the jails of the occupation and the provisional government, in particular the women; cessation of the continuous search operations and violation of human rights in all Iraqi provinces; demanding the reconstruction of destroyed cities and payment of just and fair reparations to their inhabitants.
The participant forces call on the other patriotic forces that agree with them on these principles to sign this statement as a service to our patriotic cause and for the sake of regrouping all Iraqi patriotic forces and unifying their position.
The Anti-Occupation Patriotic Forces
6 Muharram 1426 / 15 February 2005
Signatories:
1-al-Sadr`s Current;
2-The al-Khalesiyya [Shia] School;
3-Association of Muslim Scholars;
4-Patriotic Front for the Liberation of Iraq [umbrella organization of several groups, predominantly Arab nationalists, including former Baathists];
5-Iraqi Patriotic [National] Founding Congress [INFC, broad coalition of Iraqi political forces, includes leftists, nationalists and Islamists from various tendencies who opposed Saddam´s regime]
6-Popular Council for Culture and Arts;
7-Nasserite Vanguard Party;
8-Council of Woman`s Will;
9-People`s Unity Party [Communist];
10-Movement of the Arab Nationalist Current;
11-Party of Reform, Justice and Democracy;
12-United Iraq Party;
13-Islamic Bloc;
14-Nationalist Democratic Party;
15-United Patriotic Movement;
16-Regroupment for Iraq;
17-Progressive Union of Iraqi Students;
18-Arab Regroupment in Kirkuk;
19-Popular Nationalist Party;
20-Arab Socialist Movement (Patriotic Command);
21-Union of republic`s Women;
+ seven individual personalities.
Source:
http://www.juancole.com/2005/03/achcar-allawis-offensive-gilbert.html
Editorial note:
First liberation, then democracy
Although we support the points put forward in the platform, we have the impression that they avoid to clearly express that the precondition is the expulsion of the US occupation. Democracy and self-determination can only be achieved by defeating the imperialist occupying power – this is the lesson of the anti-colonial struggle of the past century including the victorious as well as the lost ones. Instead we fear that behind is the hidden agenda of a negotiated settlement brokered by the UN which intends to set up a subservient regime which, however, is not a direct puppet of the US but wields some superficial space of manoeuvre. This will serve only the Iraqi elite to integrate itself into the imperialist capitalist world system denying self-determination in a comprehensive sense to the Iraqi popular masses. We have seen this outcome in the negotiated settlements ending the liberation movements in Central America and South Africa to name only the most prominent ones.
Anti-imperialist Camp