By CHRISTINA DAVIDSON
from Iraq Slogger.com

Bush’s Former Envoy to Iraq is Top US Lobbyist for Key Iraqi Critic of Iraqi PM

Documents obtained by IraqSlogger show Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s chief Iraqi opponent, Ayad Allawi, is paying Washington lobbyists with close ties to the White House $300,000 to help with Allawi’s efforts in the U.S. to promote himself and undermine Maliki.

The powerhouse Republican firm retained by Allawi is Barbour, Griffith, & Rogers (BGR)
, and its BGR International unit is headed by President’s Bush’s one-time White House point man on Iraq, Robert Blackwill, who will lead the lobbying efforts on Allawi’s behalf.

Allawi signed the BGR lobbying contract with Blackwill, who served as Presidential Envoy to Iraq in 2004 when Allawi was appointed the country’s interim prime minister with the U.S. government’s blessing.

Blackwill assumed the position of BGR International president after leaving the Bush administration following the 2004 elections.

Allawi, who called for Maliki’s ouster in a Washington Post op-ed August 18, is believed by many Iraq observers to positioning himself to be Maliki’s successor.

As previously reported exclusively by IraqSlogger, the Republican lobbying firm Barbour, Griffith, & Rogers, LLC, began its work for Allawi August 17 by registering the domain name Allawi-for-Iraq.com. In recent days, BGR sent hundreds of e-mail messages in Allawi’s name from the e-mail address DrAyadAllawi@Allawi-for-Iraq.com.

Those e-mail messages to Congressional staffers and others in Washington included Allawi’s Washington Post op-ed and the text of a statement from Democratic Senator Carl Levin calling for Maliki to quit.