Visit to Baghdad

Charles Clarke MP, Lord Falconer and myself have just visited Baghdad to meet leaders of the Islamic Dawa Party as part of a continuing dialogue between moderate Islam and social democracy.

LFIQ has good relations with other Iraqi parties such as the Communist Party and with the Kurdistan Regional Government. We seek relations with other parties as time goes by.

We also met the head of the Commission on Integrity which leads the drive against corruption and had talks with British Embassy officials.

As a strong supporter of the Iraqi labour movement, I was very keen for LFIQ to emphasise our view that Iraq should comply with International Labour Organisation standards and that Iraq should scrap Saddam’s ban on public sector organisation and the more recent freezing of union funds and to urge a settlement of the dispute with the Teachers’ Union.

I raised these issues with Dawa leaders during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence and was promised a reply.

Unfortunately, we were not able to meet the Prime Minister due to the surprise visit of President Obama but LFIQ will continue to raise the need for full union rights through our contacts with the Dawa Party and others.

Charles Clarke, Charlie Falconer and myself (in a personal capacity) issued the statement below on our return on 9th April.

Gary Kent
Director, Labour Friends of Iraq

Statement on visit to Baghdad

Today is the sixth anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

That event was of central significance to the future of Iraq itself, to the future of the Middle East and peace in the region, to the domestic politics of the United Kingdom and the United States and to our current ideas about the use of military force in a globalised world.

We were invited to visit Iraq by the Islamic Dawa Party, led by the Prime Minister and have returned this morning.

There has been enormous controversy about many aspects of the invasion itself. We continue to believe, as do many in Iraq, that without the invasion Saddam Hussein or one of his sons would still be ruling the country with murderous terror for Iraqi citizens and a continuing very real threat to the region.

However our focus now has to be upon strengthening the growing democracy of the country, promoting economic growth and resilience and encouraging a political climate in the region which can help these things.

Britain has to do all it can to sustain and support the emerging Iraqi democracy. The departure of British troops must not mean the end of British engagement in the future of the country. Our support has to be political, economic and diplomatic rather than military.

We drew three main conclusions from our visit.

First and foremost the commitment to democracy is strong amongst Iraqis. There was specific criticism of those who maintain that somehow democracy is an inappropriate form of government for countries in the Middle East. Democracy and stability were seen as opposite sides of the same coin rather than competitors.

This is the strand of thinking, particularly in the lead up to the forthcoming General Election in Iraq, that Britain must support. We should stand ready through a variety of means, such as the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and training for those in the criminal justice system, to provide practical help as requested.

We were impressed by the extent to which Dawa politicians wanted to focus on the public’s driving issues such as electricity and water supply, housing and unemployment, rather than security or particular ethnic or religious issues.

Secondly we were impressed by the readiness of the Iraqi government to welcome investment and to promote economic development. We were glad that the visit of Lord Mandelson and a range of business people had been a success. The commitment to economic progress is essential. However a truly business-friendly environment can only be achieved if the British and Iraqi governments work closely together to overcome serious practical difficulties like visa issuing, transportation to and from the country and a flexible security regime.

Finally we were impressed by the vast improvements in the security situation which many people reported to us. However security does remain a significant impediment to normal life and priority needs to be given to this.

The economic and political success of democratic Iraq is central to the future of the country and the whole Middle East. Britain must do all in its power to support it.

Rt Hon Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP
Gary Kent