Councilman Proposes Baghdad as Sister City

Now that Saddam Hussein has lost his grip on Baghdad, one Los Angeles city councilman is talking of making the bombed-out metropolis of 5 million a sister city.

Councilman Dennis Zine, who also was the force behind the council’s unanimous vote Friday condemning the vanquished Iraqi leader, said he wants Los Angeles-area businesses to be involved in rebuilding the war-torn country.

Creating a sister-city relationship could help facilitate that, he said

“My heart goes out to the innocent” people in Iraq, he said. “What can we do as a city that will benefit them and also help businesses in L.A.?”

Of course, Zine acknowledged, a Baghdad-L.A. sister-city relationship is weeks if not months away. A city government, not to mention a national government, would have to be established in Iraq first, for one thing.

His colleagues on the council had a mixed reaction.

“I think it’s too soon to consider that,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry.

Councilman Jack Weiss seemed taken aback. “There are days when I feel like I’m living inside a real-life political cartoon,” he said.

Council President Alex Padilla, however, said it was “an interesting idea. We should talk about it.”

This is not the first time Los Angeles’ sister-city relationships have stirred up controversy.

Last year, Chinese officials became incensed after officials erected a sign outside City Hall indicating the directions and distances of 20 of Los Angeles’ sister municipalities, including “Taipei, Taiwan.”

China maintains that Taiwan is a renegade province, not a sovereign nation. To ease tension, country names were removed.

There’s something else missing from the sign too. Los Angeles has one sister city not accounted for there: Tehran.

After the Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979 and Americans were held hostage in the U.S. embassy, the council declared that relationship inactive, although technically Tehran is still part of the municipal family.