Iraqi unrest predictable, Shiite concerns real: Chalabi

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2004

LONDON (AFP) — Ahmed Chalabi, acting president of the Iraqi Governing Council, said that the uprisings in Iraq were predictable, and that real efforts must be made to address Shiite grievances.

"What is happening now is something we have spoken about and that we have predicted before the war," Chalabi, who also leads the Iraqi National Congress, told BBC radio from Baghdad.

"We warned the British governement ... in May (last year) that an occupation was ill-advised, as Iraqi people understand liberation but reject occupation," he said.

Despite the upsurge in fighting and kidnappings, however, Chalabi said the planned June 30 handover of sovereignty in Iraq must go ahead -- but Shiite concerns also need to be addressed.

"We have to work very hard to...