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Articles about shalash

Three Sunni groups -- the National Front for Iraq's Tribes, the National Democratic Party, and the Iraqi National Movement -- organized a rally in Baghdad on 11 September calling on the Iraqi people to unite ahead of the January elections. It is unclear whether these groups will attempt to forge a political alliance ahead of that vote. Meanwhile, two political groups last week discussed their platforms in the Iraqi press. Abd al-Muhsin Shalash, who heads the Free Iraqi Society Party, gave an interview to Baghdad's "Al-Manar al-Yawm," published on 14 September, in which he said that his group's unofficial stance is that it does not seek to participate in "any agency or congress that has come about through the occupation." Shalash contended that he was not invited to participate in the conference to elect an interim assembly. He claimed his party remains neutral on a number of issues, adding that the party instructed him that "we should wait and ask God for his help" rather than take impulsive stands. His grouping encompasses some 30 political parties and supports peaceful resistance to the occupation. Shalash said of the January elections: "The future shows us that the Iraqi people will be driven and directed within what is called the elections. They will take part in an operation called voting, but it will be like the marriage of a man to a woman he does not love. He walks together with her, holding her hand in front of the people.... But his heart is crying." The group's political platform calls for a stable Iraq that respects all religions and ethnic groups and rejects the occupation and "all the laws and regulations that the people did not participate in forming." "We have a comprehensive political project that believes that change must come from within, not through foreign oppression," Shalash said. The Iraqi Arab Socialist Movement published its political program in Baghdad's "Al-Jaridah" on 13 September. The group's platform is based on forging national unity. The report claimed that the interim government's ministries were set up based on a division along sectarian, national, and religious quotas, as was the appointment of ambassadors and deputy ministers. "Thus, everyone started to give allegiance to the different sectarian, ethnic, national, and religious groups and parties, and not to [the] country, causing the national program to be absent." "The last chance that is open to our people and their national and democratic forces is finding representative institutions through free elections."

Published: 2004-09-21 13:50 Found count=4

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/09/210904.asp

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Published: 2004-09-21 13:49 Found count=4

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/09/5-not/not-210904.asp

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Three Sunni groups -- the National Front for Iraq's Tribes, the National Democratic Party, and the Iraqi National Movement -- organized a rally in Baghdad on 11 September calling on the Iraqi people to unify ahead of the January elections. It is unclear whether these groups will attempt to forge a political alliance ahead of that vote. <quote/> Meanwhile, two political groups last week discussed their platforms in the Iraqi press. Abd al-Muhsin Shalash, who heads the Free Iraqi Society Party, gave an interview to Baghdad's "Al-Manar al-Yawm," published on 14 September, in which he says that his group's unofficial stance is that it does not seek to participate to "any agency or congress that has come about through the occupation." Shalash contends that he was not invited to participate in the conference to elect an interim assembly. He claims his party remains neutral on a number of issues, adding that the party instructed him that "we should wait and ask God for his help" rather than take impulsive stands. His grouping encompasses some 30 political parties and supports peaceful resistance to the occupation. Shalash says of the January elections: "The future shows us that the Iraqi people will be driven and directed within what is called the elections. They will take part in an operation called voting, but it will be like the marriage of a man to a woman he does not love. He walks together with her, holding her hand in front of the people.... But his heart is crying." The group's political platform calls for a stable Iraq that respects all religions and ethnic groups and rejects the occupation and "all the laws and regulations that the people did not participate in forming." "We have a comprehensive political project that believes that change must come from within, not through foreign oppression," Shalash says. The Iraqi Arab Socialist Movement published its political program in Baghdad's "Al-Jaridah" on 13 September. The group's platform is based on forging a national unity. The report claims that the interim government's ministries were set up based on a division along sectarian, national, and religious quotas, as was the appointment of ambassadors and deputy ministers. "Thus, everyone started to give allegiance to the different sectarian, ethnic, national, and religious groups and parties, and not to country, causing the national program to be absent." "The last chance that is open to our people and their national and democratic forces is finding representative institutions through free elections," the group contends.

Published: 2004-09-20 15:35 Found count=4

http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=09&y=2004&id=518D6C1C-A283-4A16-B10A-76ED98D78D71

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Free Iraqi Society Party. Founded on 20 April 2003, the Free Iraqi Society Party opposes the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq but supports the commencement of diplomatic relations between the two countries, provided these are conducted on equal footing. The party supports the return of a constitutional monarchy in Iraq and is led by Secretary-General Abd al-Muhsin Shalash. He told "Al-Furat" in an interview published on 14 February that his group hopes to pay an active role in rebuilding Iraqi society but added: "The Governing Council and the coalition forces keep their own counsel and refuse to allow any honest Iraqi person from inside the country to help build a new Iraq." He added that he does not support the occupation of Iraq but said, "We hope to establish strategic relations and friendship with the United States." Asked his opinion on elections, Shalash said: "We favor holding elections and feel that the Iraqis should live through the experience of honest elections, now that they have tasted freedom. This will prevent the return of dictatorship. What we need is not simply to replace Saddam Hussein's regime with another. We need to change the way we act and the way we understand political matters to prevent the emergence of a new dictator." U.S. military forces reportedly detained Shalash in August 2003 in connection with remarks he purportedly made against the occupation at a party conference, "Al-Hayat" reported. Muslim Ulama Council. Although initially conceived of as a religious entity, the Hayat Al-Ulama Al-Muslimin (Muslim Ulama Council) has ambitions as a secular authority, as well, intending to nominate one of its members as a candidate for the Iraqi presidency. However, the group is considered "too radical for the CPA to deal with comfortably as an organization representing the Sunni community," according to an article in Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) from 9 February 2004. Indeed, the group does not recognize the legitimacy of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council, and it has called for resistance at times.

Published: 2004-08-25 14:29 Found count=3

http://www.rferl.org/specials/iraqcrisis/specials-politicalgroups2.asp

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ATTACKERS TARGET HEAD OF IRAQI OLYMPIC COMMITTEE. Iraqi Olympic Committee Chairman Ahmad al-Hijiya escaped injury when militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at his convoy in Baghdad on 13 July, AP reported. But one of his bodyguards sustained injuries in the incident. Al-Hijiya was on his way to a television interview when the attack occurred. "I am surprised at this attack, because the Olympic Committee has nothing to do with politics," al-Hijiya said, according to AP. "This committee belongs to all Iraqis, regardless of their political, religious, or ethnic origins." Iraq plans to send athletes to next month's Olympic Games in Athens to compete in weightlifting and soccer. (Kathleen Ridolfo) MILITANTS KIDNAP POLITICAL PARTY LEADER. Unidentified militants kidnapped the head of the Free Iraqi Society Party in Baghdad on 10 July, MENA reported. Abd al-Muhsin Shalash was kidnapped from the party headquarters after militants destroyed computers and other equipment. It is unclear why Shalash might be targeted; his political group was established in April 2003 and calls for the return of a constitutional monarchy to Iraq. Fadil al-Khafaji, a member of the party's political bureau, told alwatan.com.sa that 10 gunmen abducted Shalash after ransacking the party's offices, the website reported on 12 July. Shalash recently announced his candidacy for president in the January elections and distributed flyers that carried his biography and photo in several Iraqi cities. (For more on the Free Iraqi Society Party, see http://www.rferl.org/specials/IraqCrisis/specials-politicalgroups2.asp). (Kathleen Ridolfo) IRAQI POLICE LAUNCH MASSIVE RAIDS IN BAGHDAD. Iraqi police arrested some 525 suspected criminals in raids across Baghdad on 13 July, Al-Jazeera reported. "This is the largest operation for the Interior Ministry since the fall of Saddam Hussein," ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abd al-Rahman said. "About 500 criminals were arrested; [they are] suspected of crimes such as stealing, murder, kidnapping, and selling drugs." Some 500 Iraqi police officers carried out the raid, which was part of the ministry's attempt to crack down on gangs that have taken to the streets of Baghdad in recent months. Abd al-Rahman claimed that the majority of those arrested were professional criminals, many of whom were released from prison during a general amnesty issued by Hussein prior to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 25 October 2002). (Kathleen Ridolfo)

Published: 2004-07-16 13:37 Found count=4

http://www.rferl.org/reports/iraq-report/2004/07/26-150704.asp

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The Bulgarian government remains optimistic that two of its nationals held captive in Iraq are still alive despite the deadline having passed for their threatened execution, international media reported on 12 July. Reuters reported on 11 July that senior Bulgarian diplomats traveled to Baghdad on that day to plead for the release of the men, who were kidnapped on 27 June after delivering cars from Bulgaria to a Mosul car dealership. The Al-Tawhid wa Al-Jihad terrorist group affiliated with fugitive Jordanian Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for the abductions and said it intended to kill the men on 9 July unless the United States freed Iraqi detainees from prison. KR IRAQI POLITICAL LEADER KIDNAPPED Unidentified militants kidnapped the head of the Free Iraqi Society Party in Baghdad on 10 July, MENA reported. Abd al-Muhsin Shalash was kidnapped from the party headquarters after militants ransacked the offices, destroying computers and other equipment. It is not known why Shalash was targeted. The political group was established in April 2003 and calls for the return of a constitutional monarchy to Iraq. For more information on the Free Iraqi Society Party, see the RFE/RL webpage on Iraqi political groups (http://www.rferl.org/specials/IraqCrisis/specials-politicalgroups2.asp). KR IRAQI PRIME MINISTER POSTPONES ARAB TOUR

Published: 2004-07-12 14:26 Found count=2

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/07/120704.asp

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Published: 2004-07-12 14:26 Found count=2

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/07/6-swa/swa-120704.asp

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The speech received poor reviews in Baghdad and the wider Arab world. Iraqi Constitutional Monarchy Movement head Sharif Ali bin al-Husayn told Al-Jazeera on 25 May: "All indications show that the process of power transfer is fake. This process [outlined by Bush] is a continuation of the occupation but in a different form." Iraqi National Movement official Adil Tahir said: "Bush's speech contained many positive points. However, it contained some negative aspects, especially since sovereignty will not be transferred in full." Meanwhile, Abd al-Muhsin Shalash of the Iraqi Free Society Party told Al-Jazeera: "Mr. Bush's speech is a continuation of previous remarks. The Iraqi people have not seen anything on the ground." Unidentified Iraqi citizens interviewed by the satellite news channels expressed similar sentiments, asking when the occupation forces would leave Iraq, and claiming that U.S. promises made before the fall of the Hussein regime have not been fulfilled. An Al-Jazeera correspondent in Al-Basrah, meanwhile, said that many Iraqis did not pay much attention to Bush's speech, saying, "They are busy with their daily concerns and living problems." "The Iraqis considered the speech to be addressed to the American voter, and not the Iraqi people," he contended.

Published: 2004-05-28 15:18 Found count=1

http://www.rferl.org/reports/iraq-report/2004/05/19-280504.asp

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