Swiss Gov't Freezes Iraq's Bank Assets

BERN, Switzerland - Switzerland said Wednesday it would freeze all Iraqi government and corporate assets in Swiss banks until the U.N. Security Council determines the rightful owners.

The decision was the government's "answer" to last month's U.S. demand that other countries confiscate frozen Iraqi assets so the money could be used by a postwar Iraqi government, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"The measures taken by Switzerland fulfill completely the request that all assets of the Iraqi state should be preserved for the people of Iraq," the statement said.

The move tightens restrictions in compliance with U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait — and therby makes it easier to turn over Iraqi assets to their rightful owners once the war has ended, the government said.

At the end of 2001, the Swiss National Bank said there were $305 million in Iraqi assets in Switzerland.

Switzerland’s Iraqi and Kurdish communities have greeted the end of Saddam’s Hussein’s regime in Iraq with joy and relief. They warn, however, that democracy and stability in the shattered country will largely depend on what the United States decides to do next.

“I am happy and so is my family in Iraq,” said an Iraqi intellectual in Lausanne. “They are feeling happy now because finally they managed to be free and to get rid of this regime and I think that’s the opinion of the majority of Iraqis.

“But Baghdad is a big city and it will take time before the coalition overcomes all the resistance pockets in different places and quarters,” he added. “It may last some weeks.”

The man, “Mr T”, asked to remain anonymous since he believes Saddam and his associates will continue to pose a threat until they are captured or killed.

The head of Switzerland’s Iraqi Society, Suker Al-Ghazali, said that he, too, was pleased to watch Baghdad fall. But he is adamant that the US should leave the task of nation building up to the Iraqi people themselves. “We Iraqis are happy that this tyrant has fallen and that we've been freed, and we're grateful… but it’s left a bitter aftertaste,” he told swissinfo.

“If the Americans have come as liberators, then they are more than welcome. But if they've come as invaders, then the whole war will take on a different meaning,” he added.

The special representative of the Kurdish administration in Geneva, Piris Zibari, agrees that the coalition should relinquish control relatively quickly. But he argues that an American presence will be vital to ensure short-term security in the region. “This is not a question of American and western occupation… it’s a question of liberation,” he told swissinfo.

“If the role of America is to occupy Iraq, then of course, the Iraqis will refuse… but I don’t think that’s the aim here,” he added. “The aim is to cooperate all together and I think we will appreciate the help of the United States at this stage.”

Despite the celebrations and speculation, military skirmishes and looting are widespread in many parts of the country, including Baghdad and Basra, where American and British troops continue to face resistance. US military officials have also warned that elements of Saddam’s elite Republican Guard are gathering around the northern cities of Tikrit – Saddam’s hometown – and Mosul, which lies north of Baghdad, close to the frontier with the Kurdish-controlled zone of northern Iraq.

But according to Zibari, the country will soon be fully under the coalition’s control. “The Iraqi military is demoralised,” he told swissinfo. “And the fact that they are now mostly based in the cities means the whole regime is now collapsing.”

Meanwhile, Mr. T said he hoped Iraqi police forces would be put in place to help control the rampant looting of government buildings. “I can understand why the people are doing that,” he said. “They are very poor and I think there is also a feeling of anger and revenge against the authority.”

“I don’t know if the US has enough soldiers to control the streets so they must appoint people to control the situation,” he added.

On Wednesday, the US vice president, Dick Cheney, announced that the US planned to organise a conference of Iraqi exiles, as well as Iraqi insiders, to discuss the formation of an interim authority which would gradually take over the running of the country.

Zibari told swissinfo that he and other Kurdish opposition members were preparing to attend the meeting, which is expected to take place on Saturday in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya. “We need to establish an interim administration in Iraq as soon as possible,” he said. “I think we will have this within ten days to two weeks.”

Members of Iraq's main Shi’ite Muslim opposition group are reportedly undecided as to whether they will participate in Saturday’s conference, lending support to the notion that installing democracy – both in the near and long term – will not be easy. “It’s important that all opposition groups are included,” said Zibari, “but in time, we need to include Iraqis from inside Iraq.”

Mr. T agrees that the new government must be made up of leaders from within the country, including Sunni Muslim and Christian representatives. “Iraqis from the inside have a feeling against Iraqis who have been living abroad,” he told swissinfo. “So it’s important to take people from inside Iraq, otherwise the transition government will be rejected and will have difficulty being accept by the population.”

Meanwhile, Zibari hopes that the “common suffering” of the Iraqi and Kurdish people will unite them in their drive towards peace and democracy. “Regardless of their minority differences and religious differences, all Iraqi people have suffered from this regime,” he told swissinfo. “We have been under this dictator for the past 35 years and you can see on the faces of Iraqis how happy they are and how they are celebrating.” swissinfo

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