New Iraqi council a sham, says ‘envoy’
The former Iraqi Ambassador to China, Muwafak al-Ani, is refusing to leave Beijing and will have nothing to do with the new Governing Council in Baghdad.
Speaking to Aljazeera Television from the Chinese capital, al-Ani said, “I will have no dealings with the so-called preparatory committee in the self-proclaimed Iraqi foreign ministry.”
The committee depends on the United States councillor at the heart of the self-styled ministry, he added.
Refusal to return
“There is no ministry. There is no internationally recognised government. There is no authority recognised by the United Nations or its member countries. That is why I won’t have anything to do with the committee,” he said.
On June 12, leading foreign ministry official Ghassan Hussain in Baghdad said that nine of the 44 heads of Iraqi delegations abroad, recalled by Baghdad, had refused to return home.
Among the others who had ignored the June 6 deadline were ambassadors in Belgium, Qatar and Egypt, foreign ministry committee member Akila al-Hashimi said.