Allawi struggles for acceptance

Most Iraqis celebrated the overthrow of the regime of Saddam. But under what has developed into a brutal and bloody occupation, people are turning against Allawi as they turned against Saddam - some even call him "Saddam without a mustache".

The right-wing Daily Telegraph of London published a "newly discovered" document from Allawi of last December 14. Allawi, who was then a member of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), stated that the mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mohammad Atta, had been trained in Iraq with support from Saddam. This fraudulent information was cited by US intelligence as compelling evidence that Saddam had contacts with al-Qaeda. It was cited as justification for the failing occupation of Iraq.

A second part of the memo also believed to have been provided by Allawi alleged the shipment of uranium from Niger to Iraq. This is another claim that has been proved false.

Allawi was reported by the International Herald Tribune to have said that Saddam had stashed billions of dollars in banks around the world. No evidence of these billions has emerged. Allawi was said again to have provided the "intelligence" in a British government dossier that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that could be made operational in 45 minutes, according to a report in the New York Times of May 29. This "intelligence" has been acknowledged to be false.

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