User:AndrewRT/Free Iraq Council
Global Security:
Free Iraq Council
This party is headed by Sa'd Salih Jabr, a Shi'a Muslim and son of former Iraqi Prime Minister Salih Jabr. The younger dissolved his Umma Party (established in 1982) in 1991 to form the Free Iraq Council. He spent some 35 years in exile and holds U.S. citizenship, but has been somewhat critical of the U.S.-led administration of Iraq. His group attempted to execute a coup in 1992 but aborted the attempt after their plans were uncovered by Hussein's regime. Some 300 members, many of them Iraqi officers, were arrested, and an unknown number were executed by the regime.
Jabr told London's "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" in an August 2003 interview that he would not oppose a return of the monarchy to Iraq, but he said that such a decision would be left to the Iraqi people to determine through elections. He did not lend support to either of the monarchial contenders.
He told London's "Al-Hayat" in January 2004: "My efforts [in Iraq] will be focused on reuniting the Iraqis and resolving differences among the various parties through middle solutions." "My first target is achieving stability, particularly between the Sunnis and Shi'ites and among the Kurds, Arabs, and Turkomans, in order to provide services, create job opportunities, and revive the economy." Jabr supports a federal Iraq. Jabr claims to have no desire to run for political office. Jabr reportedly returned to Iraq in early 2004.