The Building of Iraq's Federation of Industries
After the [USA-UK] Occupation
By Laith Al-Himdany
Translated from Arabic by Wefa
In the late 1960s, the Iraqi Federation of Industries moved to the new building designed by the late Rafiaat Al- Chadarji,
which has been in my memory for decades. When I returned to Iraq in 2004, I visited
the building and found it closed and neglected. The building and the Union itself had fallen victim to the occupation, like many important institutions
that were destroyed and marginalized in a programmatic way. Later, Talal
Talaat, Secretary General of the Union, told me about what happened days after
the occupation and how the building was attacked by Ahmed Chalabi’s group (the
National Congress) and demanded that the Secretary-General hand over the Union
and its financial assets. When Talaat refused, he was arrested, and a few days
later they detained the president of the Union. The accusation was ludicrous stating that the Union's laboratories were being used to conduct experiments
for weapons of mass destruction, which was contrary to the truth.
It is unfortunate, as Talal Talaat communicated
to me, that the one who fabricated the accusation was a member of the Union’s
Board of Directors who knew the nature of these laboratories, and that they
tried to indict him for financial delinquencies, but the charges disappeared
after the Union’s accounts were audited by a specialized committee. The whole
case was orchestrated in order to take control of the Union. This is what Jalal
Talabani did when he decided to dissolve the Union’s Board of Directors and appoint
a new board bypassing the Union’s bylaws in force at that time. Later, Ayad
Allawi issued a decision, in his capacity as Prime Minister, authorizing a
committee headed by Naseer al-Chadirji to appoint the members of the Union’s
Board of Directors. Indeed, they were named on the basis of sectarian quotas, a
council that continued to marginalize the Union for five years, violating its regulations.
That is how the occupation ended the
activity of a developmental organization that preserved its independence
through the years, including the period of the Baath Party rule, in which it
enjoyed some independence, and played an important role in supporting and
developing the private sector through the participation of its executive body
in all studies prepared by the agencies concerned with supporting the private
sector and protecting national industries. The Iraqi government (since 2003)
could have benefited from the Union’s accumulated experiences in the financial crises currently facing the country.
