Back
International
Saddam is gone, says Al-Douri
``Now we are looking for the future — forward,'' he said. ``My hope is that Iraqi people will live in peace and in security.''
Mr. Al-Douri, the first Iraqi official to concede defeat in the U.S.-led war, was expected to fly to Paris, then head to the Syrian capital, Damascus.
More than two years after he arrived in New York as Iraq's Ambassador, Mr. Al-Douri (60), left U.N. headquarters after a final round of good-byes to fellow diplomats and a farewell lunch in the Delegate's Dining Room. He was escorted to the door by half a dozen Arab diplomats including Egypt's U.N. Ambassador, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Shortly before he left, Mr. Al-Douri told reporters that he had spent more than two years at the U.N. working for peace in Iraq and was ``very serene with myself'' about leaving. Right now, he said, ``the situation there is very bad,'' but he expressed hope that it would improve and that there will be ``peace for our people there who are suffering.''
In an interview with the Dubai-based Al Arabiya satellite channel, he was more candid about his reasons for not remaining at the U.N. ``I am leaving because I don't think there is a possibility for me to work as I want from a country that is militarily invading Iraq, destroying, ravaging and killing,'' he said. ``I don't think that this occupied country (Iraq) will allow me to work with full freedom at the United Nations. Because I fear pressure to which I might be subjected, I have chosen to quit with honour and dignity.''
When asked on Friday whether he feared anything from U.S. authorities, he said, ``Not at all. They've always treated me with dignity.''
The Ambassador vehemently defended his country for months as the U.S. and its allies sought U.N. backing for war on Iraq. He insisted that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and was cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors.
Two weeks ago, during a heated U.N. debate, Mr. Al-Douri accused the U.S. of ``criminal aggression'' against Iraq and warned the U.S.-led coalition was ``about to start a real war of extermination that will kill everything and destroy everything.''
He said U.S. and British forces were being ``hoodwinked'' into believing ``that the Iraqi people would receive them with flowers and hugs.''
The outburst caused the U.S. Ambassador, John Negroponte, to walk out of the open Security Council meeting, saying he'd ``heard enough.'' With the fall of Baghdad on Wednesday, however, Mr. Al-Douri declared ``the game is over,'' becoming the first Iraqi official to concede defeat.
Mr. Al-Douri said then that he had no ``relationship with Saddam'' and had not been in communication with the Government for a long time.
On Friday, when he was asked how he felt now about the President, Mr. Al-Douri said: ``Saddam Hussein is gone. Saddam Hussein is gone. What is important for me is the people of Iraq, and the future of the people of Iraq. The past is already in the past.''
Privately, many U.N. diplomats see Mr. Al-Douri as a respectable colleague.
The British Ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock, whose country's troops are fighting alongside American forces, said of Mr. Al-Douri's statement that the war was over: ``I pay tribute to him acknowledging it.''
``He is a decent man,'' Mr. Greenstock said. ``I hope he finds a decent life, representing a decent government. He must wonder what his situation is now and I sympathise with him.''
— AP
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu