TEHRAN -- The United States does not
intend to destroy the Baath Party after the overthrow of Iraqi President
Saddam Hussain, Japanese and American diplomatic sources said, according
to the Japanese Kyodo News Agency.
The United States is interested in utilizing the Baath Party's
network in its democratization plans in the post-Saddam Iraq,
the agency said.
The TEHRAN TIMES for the first time reported a couple of weeks
ago that the United States prefers a bloodless regime change in
Iraq to a bloody war.
The United States has handed over the plan to its allies, including
Japan, as the main post-war plan, Kyodo said, adding that the
plan is under consideration by Washington because of its serious
doubts about the ability of the opposition in managing the post-Saddam
Iraq.
In the beginning, the White House had pinned hopes on the Iraqi
opposition. The idea of retaining the Baath Party without Saddam
came to the fore because of the fear of Iran's influence through
a Shiit uprising in the southern Iraq.
The U.S. has come to the conclusion that the preservation of
the party could help the democratization process in the post-war
Iraq, it said.
At the same time the U.S. sources announced a meeting of an Iraqi
Shiite leader with the White House officials, including Zalmay
Khalilzad.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told a visiting
Turkish official that Turkey will be a major loser of the probable
U.S. attacks on Baghdad.
The loss will not be confined to economic losses, rather it will
include political and security ones as well, he said.
