Oil Veteran Appointed to Get Iraqi Industry Back on Track

6 May 2003 The US-led Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq (ORHA) on Saturday announced the appointment of the director general of planning at the Iraqi oil ministry, Thamer al-Ghadban, as chief executive of the interim management team for the Iraqi oil sector. It did not set a timeframe for the interim management of the oil ministry and companies under its auspices, which al-Ghadban will also be in…

Iraqi Opposition Threatens to Annul Contracts

18 December 2002 Iraqi opposition exiles on Tuesday unveiled the results of a three-day confab in London, having agreed to set up a 65-member coordinating committee to follow up on principles and proposals agreed at the conference, and adopted in a main political statement and a document entitled the “transition period project.” The conference, attended by 350-plus delegates, focused on the roles of different groups and parties in a post-Saddam…

Divided They Stand

28 November 2002 After several delays — and a huge amount of infighting — key Iraqi dissidents in exile are finally set to meet in London on Dec. 10 with the goal of establishing a common stand over the shape of an Iraq without Saddam Hussein. Signs aren’t hopeful. The meeting, called by the US administration, is expected to discuss issues ranging from the establishment of a government in exile…

Opposition Squabbles

20 December 2002 The US wanted the recent London gathering of Iraqi exiles to be a media event — and that’s exactly what it was. The haggling among the 350-plus opposition members at the four-day meeting, not to mention the outcome, showed the wisdom of Washington’s insistence that all fundamental issues related to a new political system in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq be avoided. The US had urged the attendees,…