Iraqi views on Blair's departure

By Andrew North
BBC Baghdad correspondent

Iraqi views on Tony Blair's departure reflect how polarised the country has become.

Although this is just a handful of opinions, they also track the sectarian divide fairly closely.

Naser Rubaie, the Sadrist bloc leader, is critical of US-UK motives

Iraq's majority Shias largely praise the British prime minister for his role in toppling Saddam Hussein from power, despite criticism of the way the aftermath of the invasion was handled.

But some also highlight past British support for the Iraqi dictator.

Among the Sunni minority, there is still deep anger at his decision to join President Bush in invading Iraq in 2003.

"We welcome Blair leaving," says Dr Amar Wajih, an MP with the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni faction in parliament.

"He is one of the key figures behind this unjust war, which has brought disaster and catastrophe."

Hope

But he says he had expected Mr Blair and the British to do more to make up for US mistakes.

If he stays or goes, it makes no difference to Iraqis Abbas Rifaie, Baghdad teacher World's press on Blair

"They understand Iraq much more than the Americans and their way of dealing with the people is better," he says, adding: "They did nothing to stop disasters like Falluja, Tal Afar and Najaf" - referring to US assaults on those cities.

"We hope whoever replaces Blair will be better."

Dr Wajih had not heard of Chancellor Gordon Brown.

"But according to our knowledge, the policy of the British government does not change just because the prime minister goes," he said.

Fellow Iraqi Islamic Party MP Dr Ayad Samarai says he has heard "Tony Blair has achieved many things in Britain and that it is a better country now".

But he adds: "The big issue is the war in Iraq. It was wrong for him to participate in this war."

'Worst dictator'

An MP from the largest Shia party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), takes the opposite view.

"We are very grateful to Mr Blair" says Hamid Sa'adi.

"Even if he has done nothing else in his life, he has done something very important in helping overthrow Saddam Hussein, the worst dictator in the world."

Blair's departure doesn't matter when petrol is in short supply

There have been many mistakes, he said, "but Blair has been courageous in admitting this."

Members of another key Shia bloc, the Sadrists - linked to the cleric Moqtadr Sadr - are also pleased Saddam is gone. But they don't give Blair or Bush any credit.

"They didn't get rid of Saddam for the Iraqi people but for their own benefit, so they could control the country," says Dr Naser Rubaie, the Sadrist bloc leader.

Memories of past British and American actions towards Iraq and support for Saddam Hussein run deep, especially the refusal of President Bush Sr to support the Shia uprising in the south which followed Iraq's ejection from Kuwait in 1991.

"We nearly overthrew Saddam Hussein in 1991, with the Shia intifada (uprising)," he says.

"But the Americans allowed the regime to use its air force to bomb the Shias."

The reason was simple, Dr Rubaie says. "They didn't want this Iraqi revolution to succeed, because then power would have been in the hands of the Iraqi people."

He also blamed Mr Blair for supporting the punitive sanctions imposed on Iraq until the 2003 invasion, which had "weakened the Iraqi people".

On the streets of Baghdad though, most people seemed indifferent to Mr Blair's impending departure.

Some hope the next PM will do more than Blair for Iraq

"If he stays or goes, it makes no difference to Iraqis," says teacher Abbas Rifaie. "We have to sort our problems out ourselves now."

The day-to-day struggles of surviving amid the chaos and violence that grip the city four years on from the US and British invasion are uppermost in people's minds.

"For three days I haven't been able to fill my car with petrol," said another man angrily, as he drove off to find another petrol station.

"Every one I come to, they've either run out of petrol or the queue is too long. And I can't find any cooking gas either. These are the important things.

"And you ask me what I think about Tony Blair leaving."