Iraqi resistance to continue

In a recent statement on the announcement of a partial US troop retreat from Iraq, Abduljabbar al Kubaysi, leader of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance, one political front organisation of the Iraqi resistance, displayed scepticism: “We believe that Obama already made a change to his original promise and extended the time for the so called withdrawal from Iraq. It is clear that his army will stay till the end of 2011 and actually he will find reasons to further extend the period for years and years.”

As an explanation for the US step Mr Kubaysi cited the “economic corruption which we believe it is worse than what we know till now.”

Mr Kubaysi stated that “all the resistance groups insist that the liberation can be achieved only by continuing the hammering on the head of the occupants. I expect that resistance activities will go up in the coming weeks.”

In a public meeting in Vienna, Austria, organised by the Anti-imperialist Camp Haifa Zangana, leader of the British-Iraqi organisation “Solidarity for an Independent and Unified Iraq” confirmed the mistrust on Obama’s promises. She also assessed Obama’s announcement as motivated by symbolic political needs but in the end of the day the US will do whatever necessary to secure a dependent regime in Baghdad. According to Mrs Zangana the resistance is alive and continuing. While admitting political difficulties to unify the factions she reaffirmed that the opposition to the occupations remained overwhelming.