Iraqi Sunni Groups No Longer Have D.C. LobbyistsLast week, after IraqSlogger’s Christina Davidson broke the news that Iyad Allawi has hired a GOP lobbying powerhouse to persuade the U.S. to back his efforts at becoming Iraqi prime minister again, we took a look at which other Iraqis have taken out Washington-based representation.
What we found was an imbalance: Allawi and the Kurds have taken out the lion’s share of Iraq lobbying contracts, while the leading Sunni organizations — the Iraqi Islamic Party and the broader coalition of which it’s a member, the Tawafuq — have comparatively modest arrangements. The “lobbyist” for the Tawafuq, in fact, told us that he had stopped doing any work on his informal contract, which he had taken on a “volunteer basis.” That’s just as well: the Tawafuq’s rep, Mohammed Alomary, is based in Michigan, a far cry from the corridors of power.
Now, we’ve just learned that the Iraqi Islamic Party canceled its contract months ago with the Focus on Advocacy & Advancement of International Relations.
FAAIR’s president, Muthanna al-Hanooti, e-mails to tell us the IIP “has decided to stop the work April 14 due to lack of funds, I was sorry for this decision, however, this is their choice.” That contract, as of September 9, would have earned al-Hanooti $100,000 for the past six months.
That means that the only Sunni retaining a U.S. lobbying firm is the elderly parliamentarian Adnan Pachachi, who himself is a member of Allawi’s Iraqi National List coalition. (The Shiites, who are the linchpin of the government already, hardly need to waste their money on American lobbyists.) Speaking of Allawi, on Sunday, he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that his money for the BGR contract comes from an “Iraqi person,” but, curiously, claimed that he was “not party to the exact amount” of the contract that he’d signed.