IRAQ OCCUPATION YEAR 7 - CONFERENCE AT THE EU PARLIAMENT

Dr. Faleh al-Khayat, Dr. Hassan Aydinli, Ms. Hana al-Bayaty

Dr. Faleh al-Khayat, Dr. Hassan Aydinli, Ms. Hana al-Bayaty,

Ms. Luisa Morgantini, MEP

Abdul Ilah Al-Bayaty, Dr. Omar Al-Kubaissi, Shannon Meehan

Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, MEP

OCCUPATION YEAR 7

CONFERENCE AT THE EU PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS

18th March 2009

Iraq a Human Catastrophe

The Question of Oil

Kerkuk and the Turkmens

What Future for Iraq

Hosted by Luisa Morgantini, Vice-President of the European Parliament

Speakers:

Dr. Faleh Al-Khayat, Oil Expert

Dr. Omar Al-Kubaissi, Cardiologist

Abdul Ilah Al-Bayaty, Political Analyst

Dr. Hassan Aydinli, Iraqi Turkmen Front EU Representative

Shannon Meehan, IRC Director for Advocacy

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Moderated by Hana Al-Bayaty, French/Iraqi Analyst and Activist

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Occupation year 7

What future for Iraq?

18-20 March 2009

Organized by the BRussells Tribunal, in cooperation with Vrede, 11.11.11, INTAL,the Halles de Schaerbeek, and the Beursschouwburg.

European Union Parliament

Belgian Federal Parliament

Les Halles de Schaerbeek

Beursschouwbug

The BRussells Tribunal are intellectuals, artists and activists who denounce the logic of permanent war promoted by the American government and its allies, affecting for the time being particularly one region in the world: the Middle East.

It started with a people’s court against the PNAC and its role in the illegal invasion of Iraq, but continued ever since. It tries to be a bridge between the intellectual resistance in the Arab World and the Western peace movements.

Organized by The BRussells Tribunal, in cooperation with Vrede, Intal, 11.11.11, the Halles de Schaerbeek and the Beursschouwburg

Over 100,000 US troops still occupy Iraq though the people — in Iraq and across the world — want them out. In Iraq, untold destruction is mirrored in five million Iraqis made refugees and over one million killed since 2003. While the new US administration has committed to end the war, it is for all who can act to ensure that it ends. Peace in Iraq depends on a sovereign Iraq, and that starts when the occupation ends.

Public opposition to the US-led war on Iraq has faded while the scale of the suffering of the Iraqi people is staggering, and politicians go on debating the pros and cons of ending the illegal US invasion. While the dependence of peace on the withdrawal of foreign troops is easy to articulate, what future exists for Iraq now is less easy to discern.

On the sad occasion of the 6th anniversary of the invasion, the BRussells Tribunal and its partners will bring this question to the fore in a series of events organized during three days: a hearing in the European Parliament, an informal discussion at the Belgian Federal Parliament, and two roundtable evenings at Les Halles de Schaerbeek and the Beursschouwburg.

“Occupation Year 7: What future for Iraq?” will address crucial themes: from the plight of Iraqi refugees to the future of Iraqi oil; from the humanitarian emergency caused by the war to the steps necessary to realize a democratic and peaceful Iraq. With Iraqi experts across a number of fields, panel discussions will cut through the slogans and expose the core issues.The occupation of Iraq is intolerable. As the occupation enters its seventh year, the time is now to set a different agenda.