Free Self-Sacrifice by Struan Stevenson Page A

come to live in Scotland! I answered that I would if I could.
    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abdel Hadi al-Majali, said a new, moderate, nationalist coalition in Iraq, following the general election, could outvote and isolate the extremist parties. But he said it was the US which supported the pro-Iranian parties in Iraq. He said that if the ‘militia’ won the forthcoming elections, it would point to a dangerous future. He felt that a Sunni could conceivably become the next Prime Minister of Iraq and that this would help to bring peace.
    Later that evening, I had arranged to meet with Sattar Albayber, a member of the political bureau of the Iraqi National Accord movement and a candidate in the forthcoming elections. I had suggested meeting for coffee in the lounge of my hotel, the Intercontinental. As we began our discussion I noticed a man sitting opposite us, wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, who seemed intent on fiddling with his mobile phone. He momentarily met my gaze and quickly looked away. Seconds later I heard the characteristic click of his camera shutter and glanced up in time to see him quickly lower the phone to his lap, pretending to be reading a text message. I whispered to our Iraqi colleagues that I was sure we were being spied upon, and they laughed and confirmed that Jordan is awash with spies who photograph and report back to the Ministry of Intelligence on all meetings and goings-on within their territory. I later discovered that this information was also passed on to the Iraqi government, who had expressed an interest in keeping track of what I was up to in Jordan and who I was meeting.
    I returned to Brussels and instructed my officials to issue invitations to the leaders of the main political parties in Iraq to come to the European Parliament to address the Delegation for Relations with Iraq, before the general election. I wanted to test the water for the likelihood of a non-sectarian, inclusive government being formed following the general election. A delegation of six members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives duly arrived in Brussels, led by Sadiq al-Rikabi, political advisor to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. I met them at the VIP entrance, and as I shook hands warmly with al-Rikabi, he whispered loudly in my ear, ‘We know whom you’ve been meeting in Jordan, Mr Stevenson, and we don’t like it.’
    As an opening remark, this was certainly blunt. OK, I figured, if the gloves are off it suits me. When we took our seats for the openingsession of dialogue, I launched into a bitter condemnation of their treatment of the Ashraf residents, the massacre, the looting, the hostage-taking, the psychological torture and the siege of Ashraf. I said this was a breach of humanitarian law and a breach of trust, and it rendered my job as Delegation Chair almost impossible. I insisted on an end to the siege and the full cooperation of the Iraqi government in the re-settlement of the 3,400 Ashrafis to countries of safety. It became a sour and argumentative encounter, and afterwards my officials gently chided me about the need to maintain good diplomatic relations with the Iraqi parliamentarians. ‘I am not going to take any lessons in diplomacy from these bastards,’ I replied angrily.

 
    14
    Interviews with PMOI Refugees Camp Liberty, August 2014
    The Medical Siege of Camp Ashraf
    Fatimah Alizadeh
    ‘My name is Fatimah Alizadeh. In the second half of 2008, I was diagnosed with cancer. Prior to the US handing responsibility for the protection of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqis, I had three major surgeries performed on me. On 3 April 2009 I was getting ready for my fourth surgery when the Iraqi forces, under the direction of Movafagh Rubaiei, prevented the physician from entering Ashraf. On the same day three other female residents were also scheduled for surgery, but all the operations were delayed. After a week due to international pressure and a press conference about medical restrictions,