The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
802.
In an update
report to No.10 on 4 March, FCO officials described the
Ashura
attacks as
“devastating” and commented that they:
“… seem to
confirm our fears that foreign fighters are trying to insight [sic]
sectarian
violence by
targeting the Shia. The attacks succeeded despite carefully
planned
security
measures, which were devised by Coalition Forces in consultation
with
803.
Between 1 and
8 March, the Shia members of the GC consulted Grand
Ayatollah
al-Sistani
on the text of the TAL.443
No
amendments were made as a result.
804.
The weekly
‘Iraq Update’ for Mr Blair sent by Mr Straw’s Private
Secretary on
4 March
described the TAL as “a major breakthrough, the most significant
political
development
since the IGC”.444
805.
The same
update recorded that the UK was encouraging Mr Brahimi to
return to
Iraq before
the end of March.
806.
The TAL was
formally signed on 8 March.445
807.
In preparation
for a video conference between Mr Blair and President Bush
on
9 March,
the IPU prepared a brief which focused on the next steps in the
political
process and
on security.446
It
suggested that:
“The Prime
Minister might stress to President Bush the importance of the IGC
and
CPA
publicising the plan [the TAL] properly within Iraq, given that
details of the law
were
tightly held until the signing ceremony.”
808.
The IPU also
set out a proposal to turn an expanded version of the GC into
a
consultative
council as a “national political forum of some sort to help create
a new,
cross-sectarian
political class and national political discourse ahead of the
elections to
the
National Assembly”.
809.
On 10 March,
the JIC assessed the activities of Islamist extremists in
Iraq.447
It judged
that:
“Saddam
Hussein called for a jihad to attract mujahedin to Iraq before and
during the
conflict.
The scale of response is unknown. Some foreign fighters remained
once the
regime fell
… Foreign mujahedin aspire to fight those they see as enemies of
Islam.
But
individuals and groups have differing motivations and the jihad so
far appears
442
Letter Owen
to Cannon, 4 March 2004, ‘Iraq: Weekly Update’.
443
Letter Owen
to Cannon, 8 March 2004, ‘Iraq: Prime Minister’s VTC with President
Bush: 9 March’
attaching
Brief ‘Iraq: Prime Minister’s VTC with President
Bush’.
444
Letter Owen
to Cannon, 4 March 2004, ‘Iraq: Weekly Update’.
445
BBC
News, 8 March
2004, Iraqi law:
reaction in quotes.
446
Letter Owen
to Cannon, 8 March 2004, ‘Iraq: Prime Minister’s VTC with President
Bush: 9 March’
attaching
Brief ‘Iraq: Prime Minister’s VTC with President
Bush’.
447
JIC
Assessment, 10 March 2004, ‘Islamist Extremism: The Iraq
Jihad’.
338