Press
TV has interviewed Sa’ad al-Muttalibi, State of Law Coalition from
Baghdad, to discuss comments made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki
over Saudi Arabia meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq and Syria.
What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV:
We see that Prime Minister [Nouri] Maliki has pointed the finger
specifically at Saudi Arabia. Now our guest in Washington [Mr. Richard
Weitz] says it’s basically countries supporting those closest in
perspective but not necessarily destabilizing the country. I want your
thoughts on who do you think or which entity or country do you think is
destabilizing or trying to destabilize Iraq?
Muttalibi:
We have to admit there is a proxy war going on in Iraq on behalf of
regional powers. Now as the guest in the States mentioned not only is
Saudi Arabia interfering in the Iraqi picture but as a destabilizing
force and a power that is linked to ISIL and to al-Qaeda, we have
definite proof of such interference.
Al-Qaeda is not fighting a
proxy-war against neighboring Iran or Turkey or Kuwait or Syria, but
they are actually striving to bring down the political regime and
democracy in Iraq.
So, there are two agendas here. There is an
interference from neighboring countries. But the agenda or the reason
why there is a regional interference in Iraq and a proxy war going on --
fueled by the push from the United States into creating this theory of
this axis of evil where Syria and Iran are a part of those -- then Saudi
Arabia is manipulating on the picture and trying to get in, pushing for
a seat as a leading Arab country or Islamic country to decide how
things run in the region.
But for particularly Iraq as a
destabilizing force -- as Christopher Hill, ex-Ambassador to Baghdad,
very clearly mentioned and as Jeffrey Feltman also – Undersecretary –
was very correct in saying that there were and there are evidence of
very serious Saudi meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq and aiming
at destabilizing the political regime here.
So the political
picture is complicated to say the least, but that does deny or does not
say that Saudi Arabia is not part of a regional important force in
trying to destabilize the state of Iraq.
Press TV:
Let me just expand on what you said. I want to get clarity on what you
just said. Are you saying that it is the United States that is the main
entity behind this destabilization in your country?
Muttalibi: Yes, definitely. It’s a side product.
What
America did by claiming the theory of the axis of evil and pushing Arab
states that are closely linked to the United States into creating an
enemy of Iran, unfortunately Saudi Arabia misunderstood this picture and
considered Iraq as part of the overall Middle Eastern picture that Iraq
is a close ally of Iran, therefore Saudi Arabia by hitting at Iran are
by the way attacking Iraq to destabilize Iraq on the thought that Iraq
and Iran are closely linked. Therefore, by hitting the Iraqi regime or
the Iraqi political system, they think they are hitting Iran at the same
time.
Press TV: In general, who do you think
benefits from an unstable Iraq? –Because usually in a situation,
obviously, countries around a country tend to want their neighbors to be
stable. You pointed the finger at the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Would the Saudis not be afraid of this type of violence actually
backfiring and entering into its own soil?
Muttalibi:
Finally and eventually yes. Saudi Arabia will suffer from the commodity
that they exported to us and to Syria. Unfortunately it takes a wise
man to understand that a stable country, a stable neighbor contributes
to the stability of its own country.
But we have to remember that
Saudi Arabia does not have a democratic system so they don’t really
understand or care about what the people say. They have a king and they
have a monarchy, a non-democratic system where the royal family decides
whatever they want and a jurisprudence of clerics and religious
institutions backs the monarchy. They don’t really have the same
democratic system where they have to answer to their own people.
Press TV:
Your take, Mr. Al-Muttalibi, because we saw when the revolution took
place in Egypt, we saw immediately Saudi Arabia and Qatar definitely
going against what the people wanted initially. Do you think that these
types of regimes fear an Arab success model of representative
government?
Muttalibi: It’s natural that democracy is contagious.
Democracy
is not only contagious but it does not respect sovereign borders. It’s
very natural for a regime such as Saudi Arabia to fear from any success
story in particular from an important regional country like Iraq, with
its natural resources and its ability to be a bridge between the West
and the East, and a close ally to the Arab world at the same time
holding an excellent relationship with Iran and Turkey at the same time.
Iraq,
you have to remember, historically is the crossroads of all
civilizations. Whatever happens in Iraq definitely passes a very strong
footprint in the region.
Everybody knows that democracy is contagious. Saudi Arabia will naturally feel a bit worried.
Reading
the literature of Saudi Arabia in the past few months or monitoring
their media we see very clearly that they highlight all the atrocities
that happen in Iraq and never once mentioned a positive aspect of Iraqi
life.
So, the way they present to the people that the experiment
in Iraq is the biggest failure in the Middle East and democracy in Iraq
is such a failure that nobody should try and copy that example. This is
their internal media and internal literature that they feed to their own
people, which naturally shows that there is a fear of that.
Press TV:
Your take on what’s happening in the al-Anbar province. We know that
Takfiri insurgents have actually taken over parts of that province. I
want to know the significance of that. Are they trying to send a message
to the Iraqi people and do you think with the elections -- first of
all, will they be able to hold elections in that province, and the
significance of this election, if it is successful, will it be a boost
for security forces to get more of a stronghold or control over that
region and others?
Muttalibi: We believe here in
Iraq, and it’s not only me, I’m speaking on behalf of thousands and
hundreds of people that I’ve actually seen and spoken to during this
campaign, they talk very openly of the necessity of moving away from
consensual democracy into majority democracy, and a government that
should be formed on the basis of majority blocks within the government
parliament, away from consensual agreement. Since the consensual
agreement that was been imposed on Iraq, it definitely proved it is not
working within our framework and our social structure.
Therefore,
we consider this election to be a milestone election, the election that
will decide the fate of the state of Iraq, the shape of Iraq. Will Iraq
continue to be a federal state or centralized, decentralized? What kind
of a federal state, is it confederation or federation? All these
questions would be answered at this election.
Also, the upcoming
elections and the political map that will be produced will be in charge
of setting right the security forces and legislating laws that will
allow our security forces to act more responsibly and more actively
within the country.
Fallujah, what’s happening there is a big
media thing. But nothing’s really been affected here in Baghdad. There
is a try by al-Qaeda to move away attention from Fallujah and Anwar
province into Baghdad, trying to draw attention away from Fallujah. But
the war in Fallujah is between al-Qaeda, ISIS and the local tribesmen
who are fighting al-Qaeda.
The Iraqi army until now is not
involved in any battles with al-Qaeda or ISIS, therefore we can see how
important the upcoming election is and how important the political map
that it will produce.
Press TV: Your take on the same question, what will it take to reestablish security in your country?
Muttalibi:
Yes, there are two issues here we have to take into consideration, the
local political map from one side, and the regional events. As your
guest very clearly said, what’s happening in Syria is a major factor in
security in Iraq, and also the political map with the unfortunate
presence of certain political entities that created a fertile ground for
regional interference. That means there will always be a political
group that will invite regional interference in particular from Syria
and from extremist elements from Syria.
GMA/HSN
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