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Iraqi dissident groups set up military council

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JULY 15. Iraqi dissidents in Britain have decided to step up their support for the U.S.-backed moves to topple the President, Saddam Hussein, by setting up a 15-member military council consisting of former Iraqi officers, including the Washington-based Brig. Najib al Salhi, who fancies himself as the next potential leader of Iraq.

The council, set up after a three-day conference of disparate dissident groups here over the weekend, would mobilise the "rebels'' in the Iraqi army and encourage them to support any U.S. military intervention, widely expected early next year.

Though the conference openly called for "foreign assistance'' to overthrow Mr. Hussein, there were differences over the extent of foreign involvement with delegates favouring a limited intervention rather than a large-scale "invasion'' which, they feared, could cause civilian casualties and trigger a backlash.

The spokesman for the military council, Tawfil al-Yassiri, said a working group had already been appointed to establish contact with potential dissidents in the Iraqi army and help them prepare the ground for overthrowing Mr. Hussein. He insisted that the new movement, though spearheaded by former military officers, was committed to replacing the Saddam Hussein regime with a "democratic civilian'' government. He echoed the view, strongly voiced during the conference, that it would be a mistake to replace the present regime with simply another military dictatorship.

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