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SCA, ARIEL BOLUDOVSKY
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Your Excellency, Mr. Kofi Annan,
Secretary General of the United Nations

We extend our best greetings and highest appreciation,

We, the undersigned, Iraqi civil society organizations as well as a
group of Iraqi and Arab intellectuals are gravely concerned at the
continuing attempts of certain governments to undermine the democratic
process in Iraq. In the vanguard of these governments stands the French
government. Since the start, this government has opposed the endeavours
of the international community to help the Iraqi people end the despotic
rule of Saddam Hussein, a rule that posed a threat to international
peace and security, under the pretext of protecting the integrity of the
Iraqi people. It threatened to resort to the veto in the UN Security
Council to thwart any resolution which could help the Iraqi people rid
themselves of the dictatorial regime.

After the liberation of Iraq under United States leadership and
supported by many countries in the world, the French government called
for the participation of the Baath party in the transitional government
in spite of that party's totalitarian thought, nationalistic fanaticism
and sanguinary past. These efforts were repeated in different forms
including the persistent call for the withdrawal of multinational forces
from Iraq, forces which Iraq needs in order to ensure security. The last
such effort was the French government's demand to convene an
international conference in Egypt to include governments and
representatives of what it calls factions of the "Iraqi resistance". We
wish to confirm to you that this "resistance" is none other than an
alliance of remnants of the ousted regime in Baghdad and non-Iraqi
Islamist and extremist terrorist groups affiliated to the Al Qaida
organization led by Osama Ben Laden whose Iraq branch is headed by the
Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, as well as organized crime
gangs previously released by Saddam Hussein before his fall.

The Iraqi government objected to the presence of terrorists at this
conference, one which is a gathering of governments and not a joint
meeting with non-governmental organizations. This stance was supported
by Iraqi civil society organizations. This notwithstanding, the French
government submitted a new proposal calling for the holding of a special
conference to which "factions of the Iraqi resistance" would be invited
under the appellation "Iraqi civil society organizations". This term
implies that these are merely peace-loving civil society organizations
which believe in democracy, reject violence and terrorism and strive to
protect human rights and society by peaceful means. We do not know
whether the French government has accepted that representatives of these
terrorists groups would attend masked, or if it will ask them to remove
their masks so that hostages would recognize their kidnappers and
witnesses of beheadings would behold the face of murderers.

We believe that the purpose which the French government seeks through
all of the above is to accord international legitimacy to terrorist
groups in Iraq, delay elections sought by the Iraqi people and press for
the withdrawal of the multinational forces before stability is
established and before security and democracy are realized in Iraq. This
contradicts Security Council resolution No. 1546 which was approved by
the very same French Government, a resolution that gave the Iraqi
Transitional Government the sole right and authority to demand the
withdrawal of these forces. We believe that withdrawal of the
multinational forces in this critical transitional phase in the life of
the Iraqi people is tantamount to paving the road, either to the
restoration of the Saddam Hussein regime- one that has filled Iraq with
mass graves and displaced millions of its sons - so that it may pursue
its persecution of the Iraqi people, or transform Iraq into a large
hotbed that attracts criminals, thieves, murderers and terrorists
turning it into a centre of international terrorism with the attendant
threat to peace and security of the peoples of the region and the world.

We therefore appeal to you, Your Excellency the Secretary General, to
call on the governments of the states neighbouring Iraq as well as the
French government to rectify their negative positions vis-à-vis the
Iraqi people and to join the international community in the bid to help
Iraq and its people defeat terrorism, realize security and democracy and
rebuild their country, thereby restoring peace and security to the
Middle East region, key to security and stability in the world.

With sincere thanks and appreciation,


Signed


Cc:
1- President George Bush, President of the United States of America, the
White House, Washington D.C.
2- Mr. Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 10 Downing
Street, London.
3- Mr. Jack Straw, Foreign Minister, U.K Foreign Ministry, London.
4- President Vlademir Putin, President of the Russian Federation,
Moscow.
5- President Guojia Zhuxi, President of the People's Republic of China,
Beijing.
6- President Jacques Chirac, President of France, Paris.
7- Mr. Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of Germany, Berlin.
8- Mrs. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commission of the European Union,
Brussels.
9- Mr. Iyad Allawi, Prime Minister, Government of Iraq, Baghdad.
10- Mr. Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq, Baghdad.
11- Mr. Ahmed Abu Al Gheit, Foreign Minister of Egypt, Cairo.
12- Mr. Amr Mousa, Secretary General of the League of Arab States,
Cairo.


--
"The U.S. Army, in concert with the Navy, Air Force,
and Marines, has been the 'Vanguard of Democracy'
around the world. Countries such as Japan, Germany,
France, South Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq are free
today because of the United States armed forces
and the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform."
--Secretary of the Army, Dr. Francis J. Harvey