Allawi Reiterates Warnings of Iraq’s ‘Emerging Dictatorship’

Accuses Iran of Meddling in Internal Affairs

In an interview today with the Washington Times, former Iraqi Prime Minister and Iraqiya party leader Ayad Allawi reiterated his regular warnings of an “emerging dictatorship” in the nation, warning that Maliki continuing to centralize power under his control.

Allawi’s Iraqiya Party threatened earlier this week to withdraw its ministers from the coalition government unless Maliki agreed to a number of concessions, notably ending summary detentions and a general amnesty for those being held on political charges.

In the interview, Allawi complained that since the power-sharing deal Iran has become increasingly dominant over Iraq, and is dictating the nation’s “strategic policies.” He also took the US to task for negotiating the power-sharing pact, saying “I think the United States is deliberately taking Iraq out of the screen because there is a gross failure in Iraq.”

The State Department slammed Allawi’s interview, saying that the US is continuing to play a key role in keeping Iraq’s “political process on track.” In addition to Iraqiya’s threats to withdraw from the government, Kurdistan’s President has also slammed Maliki and predicted military clashes between the central government and Kurdistan’s Peshmearga forces.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.