Press Release from the Iraqi Forum in the Czech Republic

22.12.2003
PRAHA [Iraqi Forum of the Czech Republic]
Autor: Ahmad Al-Gari, tel: 721 855 168

The Iraqi community in the Czech Republic has been shocked and disappointed by the recent announcement that Mr Louye Nori Bashar has been appointed as the new Iraqi Charge de Affair in Prague.

The Iraqi Forum of the Czech Republic would like to inform the Czech public that this appointment is a step in the wrong direction on the part of the new governing council in Iraq. The appointment of Mr. Bashar is not in line with our effort to build a democratic, pluralistic and federal government in Iraq, with respect for human rights and the shared equality of the Iraqi people—a government that will leave the inheritance of the former bloody dictatorship in the past.

Mr. Bashar is a well-known leading figure in the Ba’athist regime with a long diplomatic career. He has served as a Ba’athist representative on numerous diplomatic missions around the world, and he last served as Iraqi consul in Prague up until the very last days of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. During that time, he was a very loyal operative of the dictatorship in the way he has dealt with the Iraqi opposition abroad.

The Iraqi Forum of the Czech Republic together with a majority of representatives from Iraqi political organizations both inside and outside the interim government of Iraq have signed statements addressed to the Interim Governing Council in Iraq and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. These two letters request that these organs reconsider this inappropriate decision. The Iraqi Forum pointed out in these statements that the appointment of Mr. Bashar is not in agreement with the spirit of political reform in Iraq and does not serve to improve the relationship between the Czech Republic and Iraq.


Ahmad Al-Gari
Spokesman for the Iraqi Forum of the Czech Republic
Tel: +420 721 855 168
e-mail: irak.forum@centrum.cz

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