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21.04.2004
UN pivotal to solution in Iraq
Sub Head: It has no political agenda, says expert
Byline: SHAHANAAZ HABIB
KUALA LUMPUR: The United Nations is pivotal to any solution in Iraq because it has no political agenda in the country, said an American specialist in Middle East Affairs.
Dr Kenneth Katzman, who analyses US policy on the Persian Gulf for the US Congress, said the world body should play a key role because it had legitimacy in Iraq.
“The UN is not viewed as trying to skew the political structure towards the Sunnis or the Shi’ites,” he said yesterday in a public lecture on International Terrorism: Causes and Response, organised by The Star and the Asian Center for Media Studies.
Dr Katzman said the United Nations would need “almost total authority” to sculpt a new Iraqi political structure.
“However, the difficulty may be that the US is going to want control over the command structure,” he added. Shi’ites make up over 60% of Iraq’s population.
Katzman believed that violence in Iraq would stop if all communities and factions had a place in the new Iraqi political structure.
Describing influential Shi’ite cleric Ayatollah Sistani as “extremely moderate”, Katzman said it would not be a disaster for US foreign policy if he was calling the shots in Iraq behind the scenes.
“Sistani doesn’t believe in force to control the Sunnis and Kurds. He doesn’t believe in extremist movements like the Hizbollah. He does not have ambitions to conquer Kuwait or part of Iran or Turkey.
“Does he want women to cover up and not play a role in politics? Yes. Does he want alcohol sold? No. Does he want Western films with women in bathing suits? No.
“Obviously Sistani is Sistani and you can’t change him.”
Responding to a question, Katzman said the fact that the United States was an ally of Israel was actually positive for the Middle East peace process.
He claimed that every territorial concession that Israel had made was a result of pressure from the United States. “The US is sort of a mentor and protector of Israel. Without the US, Israel will not negotiate.”
Pix: Dr Katzman: ‘The world body should play a key role because it had legitimacy in Iraq’
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