By Paul Basken - The Bush administration agreed to resume funding for the main Iraqi opposition group, the Iraqi National Congress, promising $2.4 million over the next three months for its efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
``We are very confident now that we can work together with the United States and with the State Department to work out a very good program and a very good resolution,'' INC spokesman Sharif Ali Bin Al Hussein said.
The approval raises prospects for stepped-up U.S. action against Iraq, coming one day after U.S. President George W. Bush listed Iraq as among three countries that are leading candidates to become the next targets in the U.S. war against terrorism.
The U.S. State Department has been reluctant to back the INC, questioning both its ability to lead a successful uprising against Hussein and the depth of support for its founder, Ahmed Chalabi, among other opposition figures.
Congress in 1998 authorized the president to spend $97 million assisting the Iraqi opposition. The State Department suspended most INC assistance earlier this month after a report by the department's inspector general alleged mismanagement of U.S. funds by the INC.
After meetings today between INC representatives and top officials at the departments of State and Defense, the Bush administration said it has agreed to release $2.4 million in funding during the next three months.
Responding to Concerns
``They have made good progress in responding to the concerns that were posed by the inspector general's report, and we continue to work with the INC to address them fully,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
The INC meanwhile was encouraged by Bush's remarks last night in the annual State of the Union address to Congress, in which he said states such as Iraq ``constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.''
The INC was ``very, very encouraged by the president's speech,'' spokesman Sharif Ali Bin Al Hussein said after the meeting with Marc Grossman, the undersecretary of State for political affairs.
``With the final decision coming from the president, of course, we feel that things are going our way,'' Sharif Ali said.
The State Department still has not lifted its prohibition on funding INC activities within the borders of Iraq, Sharif Ali said. ``That is something that we will continue to discuss,'' he said.
Instead, joint efforts with the U.S. will concentrate on renewed U.S. support for INC activities such as media broadcasts, humanitarian aid and collecting evidence of Iraqi crimes against humanity, he said.
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