EL CAJON – Iraq's government is considering San Diego as a possible site for a consulate that would serve thousands of Iraqi-Americans in California, Iraq's top diplomat to the United States said yesterday in El Cajon.
Iraqi Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie said San Francisco and Los Angeles are also in the running and that he will make his recommendation after he returns to Washington, D.C. He met with more than 250 Iraqi-Americans at the Ronald Reagan Community Center in El Cajon, where he discussed the situation in Iraq and fielded questions in Arabic and English.
San Diego is a possible site because of its large Iraqi-American population, Sumaidaie said. About 30,000 live in San Diego County, many in East County.
“San Diego claims to have the largest Iraqi population in California, which has the second-largest Iraqi population after Michigan,” Sumaidaie said. “In that sense, San Diego is important.” Iraq plans to open a consulate in Detroit, he said.
Before the event, he discussed with reporters the war in Iraq, U.S.-Iraqi relations, Western interest in Iraqi oil production and other developments.
Sumaidaie said the situation in Iraq is improving, though he did not believe a timetable should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
“We are making progress. There will be a withdrawal,” he said. “The withdrawal will be gradual, but to give it a date would be the wrong thing to do.”
Sumaidaie said U.S. forces are “moving more into a support role” as Iraqi troops assume more combat roles. “This is a huge development,” he said.
Asked about reports that Iraq is considering no-bid consulting contracts with five Western oil companies, Sumaidaie would say only that his country needs to rebuild its oil industry, and “for that we need American companies with the know-how, the technology.”
“That's good for us. That's good for the world because it will reduce oil prices,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of the United States launching a strike from Iraq against Iran, Sumaidaie said his government opposes the idea.
“We do not want Iraq to be used as a launching pad,” he said. “That would complicate our lives. We have enough problems as it is.”
Leonel Sanchez: (619) 542-4568; leonel.sanchez@uniontrib.com
