- DUBAI - Former Iraqi army
chief of staff General Nizar Khazraji has been picked by the United States
to run Iraq after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein, a newspaper
reported Monday. Khazraji, who lives in exile in Denmark, "is the
favoured candidate" among 62 ex-officers earmarked by Washington as
potential leaders, Al-Hayat daily said, quoting Iraqi opposition sources
in Damascus.
-
- Contacts have been made with the general who enjoys
"virtual
unanimous support in Kurdish, Shiite and Sunnite circles", the
London-based
paper reported. However another exile, General Najib al-Salhi, who lives
in Jordan, is also seen as a potential "Karzai" for Iraq, said
the sources, referring to Hamid Karzai, the leader of the interim Afghan
government installed after the United States ousted the Taliban
regime.
-
- Al-Salhi "recently went to New York for contacts
with the Americans," said Al-Hayat, which is Saudi-owned. Several
countries in the Middle East and the West have had consultations with
exiled
Iraqi officers to prepare for a possible regime change in Baghdad, it
added.
-
- The United States has threatened to extend its
anti-terror
war to Iraq and openly calls for Saddam Hussein's overthrow. However one
of the main stumbling blocks is the weakness of Iraq's opposition, which
has been silenced within the country and unable to unite into an effective
force abroad.
-
- The News International, Pakistan
http://
jang.com.pk
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