"The Iraqi Republican Group, which has existed secretely for eight years, is now ready to announce its existence to the world," the movement said in a statement received by AFP in Jordan.

It described itself as a "democratic" movement and said it "played a key role in the overthrow of (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein's despotic regime", the statement dated from Baghdad's central Al-Tahrir (Liberation) Square said.

The IRG said it followers come from "all faiths" and represent cross-sections of Iraq's religious communities, including Sunni and Shia Muslims, Christians, as well as the Arab, Kurdish and Turkomen ethnic groups.

"The IRG is founded on the principle that the Iraqi people, who have suffered so long under Saddam's tyranny, should at least decide their own destiny," said the statement, written in English.

But the group insisted that any future Iraqi leadership must come from within and not be imposed by external forces, in a clear allusion to the US-British coalition now controlling Baghdad.

"These fateful decisions should not be imposed by foreigners and should not be made by those who are unfamiliar with the realities of Iraq," the statement said.

"The most important task at present is to get the Iraqi administration functionning again, with Saddam's evil henchmen removed or deported," it said.

"The Iraqi people ... do not want outsiders experimenting with the country's vital services," it added.

The group also called for the postponment of a meeting of opposition factions which has been tentatively set for Saturday in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.

"The internal opposition elements are only now emerging in Iraq" and therefore the Nasiriyah meeting should be "postponed until all internal elements are accounted for and should be held in Baghdad", the statement said.

Ghassan al-Atiyyah, an independent member of a 65-strong committee formed by major opposition groups in London last December, told AFP in Dubai earlier Wednesday that the meeting was being organised by the United States.

"The meeting will be a step to demonstrate that the opposition is present on the ground in Iraq and that the (US-led) coalition deals with all parties without favoring any side," Atiyyah said from London.

Atiyyah, who announced the meeting in London on Tuesday, said the precise date and venue were open to change, and the gathering was not meant to be "the main proposed conference that will discuss the future" of post-Saddam Iraq.

SPACE.WIRE