Mithal al-Alusi

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Mithal al-Alusi is a former Iraqi exile who led a group which stormed the Iraqi embassy in Berlin in 2002. Following his conviction over the incident, he skipped bail to return to Iraq.

In Iraq, he acted as spokesman for Iraqi National Congress chief Ahmad Chalabi, and became director of the Debaathification Commission which Chalabi chaired. However, he was expelled from the INC in 2004 over a visit to Israel for a conference at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. Al-Alusi remained active in Iraqi politics, forming his own party. He continued to advocate closer links with Israel, attending Herzliya conferences in 2005 and 2008.

Career

Al-Alusi is a former Ba'ath Party member who had worked at the party's top secret school for political cadres before falling out with the regime in the 1970s.[1]

While studying in Egypt in 1976, al-Alusi was sentenced to death in absentia for allegedly trying to undermine Saddam Hussein. He later moved to Syria and then Germany.[2]

Berlin Embassy incident

Al-Alusi led a group which stormed the Iraqi embassy in Berlin on 20 August 2002. According to prosecutors al-Alusi recruited five Iraqis aged from 33 to 44 and led the incident by mobile telephone.The five entered the embassy building armed with an 8mm pistol, an axe and a device for firing an irritant gas, and held four people, including the Iraqi charge d'affaires Shamir Mohammed. Prosecutors accused the group of threatening to kill staff and said that shots were fired and tear gas used on the victims. The incident ended when the building was stormed by police. Al-Alusi acted as spokesman for an obscure group called the Democratic Iraqi opposition of Germany which claimed responsibility for the incident.[3]

Al-Alusi testified that the group was seeking evidence of plans to liquidate Iraqi opposition figures.He was convicted on 3 September 2003 of hostage-taking, causing bodily harm and trespassing, and was sentenced to three years and three months in prison. He was, however, freed pending an appeal and ordered to report several times a week to German authorities.[4]He had already spent 13 months in prison at this time. [5]He returned to Iraq in November 2003, violating his bail conditions. A spokesman for the Berlin state court said in 2004 that al-Alusi would be arrested if he returned to Germany.[6]

De-Baathification Commission

Al-Alusi was appointed director of the Supreme National Commission for De-Baathification, of which Ahmad Chalabi had been made chairman in September 2003. Under al-Alusi, the Commission and its files were a major powerbase for Chalabi, giving him leverage over members of the Iraqi government.[7]

The Commission began its work in January 2004. By November, according to al-Alusi, 35,000 party members had left their jobs.[8]

One of the steps in the appeals process for former Baathists was attendance at a thirty-day de-Baathification course, and I asked Alusi what model he had used for it. "I've studied the de-Nazification of Germany," he said. "And I've e-mailed Jewish Holocaust organizations, although only one of them answered me. We've read a lot of books."[9]

Criticism of the de-Ba'athification policy led the US to reinstate 10,000 teachers in May 2004, a policy with which al-Alusi was uncomfortable:

The decision to re-employ so many Ba'athists, he argues, may be seen as an appeasement of the insurgency, and he suggests there are more than 71,000 teachers looking for work who have no Ba'ath background and would make better teachers. "The Ba'athists were here for 35 years, they are many in number, they have many weapons," he said. "One night they left and now they want to return."[10]

Chalabi spokesman

In June 2004, al-Alusi released a document, allegedly from Iraqi intelligence files, which he said showed that Ahmad Chalabi's 1992 conviction for bank fraud in Jordan had been handled improperly. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the documents:

Chalabi's spokesman, Mithal al-Alusi, said on Tuesday that the rough document, which is not on official letterhead and carries no seals or official markings, suggests that the military court that convicted Chalabi was created improperly and ignored the true suspects in the case. The case should be retried by a civilian court, al-Alusi said.[11]

In September 2004, al-Alusi acted as spokesman for Chalabi following a reported assassination attempt on the INC leader.[12]

Herzliya conference 2004

In September 2004, al-Alusi attended the Global Impact of Terrorism conference, the fifth international conference of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center.[13]He was subsequently charged under a 1969 Iraqi law prohibiting contacts with enemy states.[14]

According to Mideast Mirror, such overt contacts with Israel were widely seen as an embarrassment to Chalabi, which damaged the standing of the Iraqi National Congress.[15]Following the visit, al-Alusi was expelled from the INC. He then set up the Iraqi Nation Party which he described as a "liberal, secular and democratic party."[16]

Assassination attempt

In February 2005, he survived an ambush in which two of his sons were killed. A former culture minister in the Nouri al-Maliki government, Asad Kamal al-Hashimi was sentenced in absentia for the attack in August 2008.[17]

When he was charged in June 2007, al-Hashimi claimed the move was an attempt by the Maliki government to push Sunnis out of politics. Al-Alusi in turn accused the US of sheltering al-Hashimi.[18]The Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front announced a boycott of cabinet meetings after al-Hashimi was charged.[19]

By March 2008, when he was visited by German politician Elke Hoff was living in Baghdad's Green Zone. Der Spiegel nevertheless described him as one of the most popular politicians in postwar Iraq.[20]

Herzliya conference 2005

Al-Alusi spoke again at the 5th Herzliya conference in September 2005.[21]

Prague Conference 2005

Al-Alusi attended the Prague Democracy & Security International conference in June 2007.[22]Al-Alusi later said that President George W. Bush asked at the event how his wife was handling the event of his two sons. Al-Alusi highlighted the conversation later that month when the US allegedly intervened to prevent the arrest of Asad Kamal al-Hashimi in the case.[23]

Herzliya conference 2008

In September 2008, al-Alusi attended the 8th Herzliya conference at the International Institute for Counterterrorism in Israel.

"He wasn't set to speak, but he was in the audience and conversed with a lecturer on a panel about insurgency and terrorism in Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel," said conference organizer Eitan Azani. "We didn't invite him. He came on his own initiative."[24]

Al-Alusi called for increased intelligence co-operation between Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey and the US during a surprise speech to the conference:

During a panel dedicated to the lessons of the battle against guerrillas in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel, the master of ceremonies surprised listeners when he said Al-Alusi was in the audience and invited him to the podium. Al-Alusi was received with roaring applause. "In Israel, there is no occupation, there is liberalism," Al-Alusi, who is making his third trip to the Jewish State, told the audience. "We not only have elections but also a democratic education. Throughout Iraq, there are people who have never gone to school and have not participated in the election. Today they know there's such a thing as democratic elections."[25]

According to the New York Sun, al-Alusi had attended the conference for the past four years.[26]However UPI reported that the conference was only al-Alusi's third trip to Israel.[27]

Shortly after the conference, the Iraqi Parliament voted to strip him of his immunity, allowing him to be prosecuted for visiting Israel.[28]The decision was overturned in November 2008 by the supreme court, which ruled that the Parliament's action was "illegal and unconstitutional because the current constitution does not prevent citizens from traveling to any country in the world."[29]

Views

Al-Alusi was one of the few Sunni politicians who supported a vote in favour of the proposed Iraqi constitution in the referendum of 15 October 2005.[30]

al-Alusi accused rival Sunni politicians of supporting Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi following the latter's death in 2006.[31]

On Israel

Al-Alusi said Iraq should follow Jordan and Egypt in seeking peace with Israel, especially since Syria is moving in that direction. He insists Israel would have to make concessions to the Palestinians.
"We should act now because if the Syrian-Israel talks succeed, this means that Iraq will be isolated," he said. "It's the right time to open a new phase with Israel."[32]

On Iran

"Iran is behind Hamas and Hezbollah and many other terrorist organizations. Israelis are suffering like me, like my people. So we need to be together," he said. "Peace will have more of a chance."[33]

On Muqtada al-Sadr

"If he says, 'Kill Alusi,' I will be killed. If he says, 'Don't kill Alusi,' I will not be killed. ... Nobody can go against his orders or wishes."[34]

External Resources

Affiliations

Conferences

References

  1. ↑ OUT ON THE STREET; The United States' de-Baathification program fuelled the insurgency. Is it too late for Bush to change course? by Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 15 November 2004.
  2. ↑ Iraqi's Warmth for Israel Exacts a Heavy Price, International Herald Tribune, 21 September 2008.
  3. ↑ Iraqi opposition members in Berlin hostage drama face court, by Fabien Noval, Agence France Press, 26 March 2003.
  4. ↑ Berlin court convicts six in Iraqi embassy siege, Associated Press Worldstream, 3 September 2003.
  5. ↑ OUT ON THE STREET; The United States' de-Baathification program fuelled the insurgency. Is it too late for Bush to change course? by Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 15 November 2004.
  6. ↑ Official in charge of de-Baathification program wanted by Germany in 2002 embassy takeover, by Scheherezade Faramarzi, Associated Press, 7 June 2004.
  7. ↑ OUT ON THE STREET; The United States' de-Baathification program fuelled the insurgency. Is it too late for Bush to change course? by Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 15 November 2004.
  8. ↑ OUT ON THE STREET; The United States' de-Baathification program fuelled the insurgency. Is it too late for Bush to change course? by Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 15 November 2004.
  9. ↑ OUT ON THE STREET; The United States' de-Baathification program fuelled the insurgency. Is it too late for Bush to change course? by Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 15 November 2004.
  10. ↑ Iraq conflict: Ba'athist teachers prepare to go back to the classroom: Disquiet as 10,000 staff are reinstated in a rethink of the US aim to 'extirpate Saddam's party', by Rory McCarthy, The Guardian, 1 May 2004.
  11. ↑ Chalabi aide: Jordanian fraud conviction handled improperly, by Jim Krane, the Associated Press, 8 June 2004.
  12. ↑ Iraq: Chalabi survives assassination attempt in Baghdad, Al-Bawaba, 1 September 2004.
  13. ↑ IDC Update - Spring-Summer 2005, Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, accessed 26 January 2009.
  14. ↑ U.S. Forces Seize Iraqi City of Samarra, Bombs Wrack Capital; Frequent Attacks Belie Claims of Calm, Facts on File World News Digest, 7 October 2004.
  15. ↑ Reports of Iraqi-Israeli entente, Mideast Mirror, 18 October 2004.
  16. ↑ Iraqi's Warmth for Israel Exacts a Heavy Price, International Herald Tribune, 21 September 2008.
  17. ↑ Iraqi's Warmth for Israel Exacts a Heavy Price, International Herald Tribune, 21 September 2008.
  18. ↑ Iraq War; U.S. GOP Senators Criticize Bush's Policy; Other Developments, Facts on File World News Digest, 28 June 2007.
  19. ↑ Iraq War; U.S. Implicates Iran in Deadly January Raid; Other Developments, Facts on File World News Digest, 5 July 2007.
  20. ↑ Americans in Green Zone under siege, by Dieter Bednarz, Salon.com, 28 March 2008.
  21. ↑ [Highlights 5th Conference], International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, accessed 26 January 2008.
  22. ↑ List of Participants, Democracy and Security International Conference, accessed 26 January 2009.
  23. ↑ Moment of Truth, editorial, New York Sun, 29 June 2007.
  24. ↑ Iraqi's Warmth for Israel Exacts a Heavy Price, International Herald Tribune, 21 September 2008.
  25. ↑ Iraqi MP visits IDC conference, Jerusalem Post, 10 September 2008.
  26. ↑ Al-Alusi and Israel, editorial, New York Sun, 16 September 2008.
  27. ↑ lawmaker seeks relations with Israel, United Press International, 11 September 2008.
  28. ↑ Iraqi's Warmth for Israel Exacts a Heavy Price, International Herald Tribune, 21 September 2008.
  29. ↑ Court: Iraq lawmaker can't be prosecuted for trip, by Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press, 26 November 2008.
  30. ↑ The Sunni Question, by Scott Johnson; With Michael Hastings and Joe Cochrane in Baghdad, Newsweek, 5 September 2005.
  31. ↑ Fighting Zarqawi's Legacy; by Rod Nordland and Michael Hirsh; With Mark Hosenball in Toronto, Sarah Childress and Salih Mehdi in Baghdad, Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai in Kabul and Emily Vencat in London, Newsweek, 19 June 2006.
  32. ↑ Iraqi's Warmth for Israel Exacts a Heavy Price, International Herald Tribune, 21 September 2008.
  33. ↑ Iraqi's Warmth for Israel Exacts a Heavy Price, International Herald Tribune, 21 September 2008.
  34. ↑ The Emperor of Iraq, by Christopher Beam and Blake Wilson, Slate Magazine, 27 November 2006.
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