- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.
administrator Paul Bremer Sunday insisted he was pushing ahead with the
creation of an Iraqi interim authority, but Iraqi groups accused Washington
of backing away from its promises to hand real power to Iraqis.
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- Among the critics are members of the former exiled Iraqi
National Congress (INC), usually considered strongly pro-American, and
a major Shi'ite group which threatened a campaign of civil disobedience.
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- Bremer said during a visit to the northern city of Mosul
he would hold more talks with Iraqi political leaders later this month
on the establishment of the interim authority, and dismissed U.S. media
reports that the process had been delayed.
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- "I don't know where these stories are coming from
because we haven't delayed anything," Bremer told reporters.
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- The New York Times said Bremer and British officials
had told Iraqi leaders at a meeting Friday they had delayed indefinitely
a plan to allow Iraqis to form a national assembly and interim government
by the end of the month.
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- Delay or not, senior Iraqi political figures in any case
expressed deep suspicion of the term "interim authority" rather
than a more powerful "interim government" to pave the way for
elections.
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- They said an "authority" was unlikely to grant
Iraqis full control over sensitive ministries and foreign policy.
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- The disagreement is the first public rift between the
INC, the former opposition in exile, and Washington since President Saddam
Hussein was ousted last month.
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- "An interim authority is a very vague concept. I
am not sure that an Iraqi representative would go to OPEC meetings (of
oil exporting countries) under this setup," Entifadh Qanbar, a senior
official in the Iraqi National Congress, told Reuters.
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- "We will continue to tell him and push very hard.
Anything of this sort will not work. The U.S. will come back and accept
an interim government," Qanbar said.
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- Qanbar said the United States had repeatedly agreed to
form a sovereign government rather than a mere "authority."
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- SHI'ITE DISCONTENT
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- One Iraqi politician said the U.S. and British officials
had told the former opposition Friday they would transfer power to an interim
authority in stages.
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- He said the handover of some ministries would happen
as soon as an authority was established, but control of sensitive ministries
such as interior, defense and foreign affairs would be transferred only
later.
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- The Shi'ite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution
in Iraq (SCIRI) also accused Washington of breaking its promises to set
up a sovereign Iraqi government.
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- Ahmad Khaffaji, SCIRI's politburo member, said U.S. envoy
Zalmay Khalilzad had made such pledges at pre-war conferences in London
and in northern Iraq.
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- "We demand that the Americans fulfil their promises,"
Khaffaji said. "Civil disobedience will otherwise follow."
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- Many Iraqis are relieved that Saddam's 24-year rule is
over but horrified by lawlessness and the breakdown of water, power and
health services in the aftermath of war and are skeptical about U.S. motives
in Iraq.
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- Bremer described Friday's meeting with Iraqi leaders
as "productive" and said he was committed to meeting them again
within the next two weeks "as we move rather quickly in this transitional
phase."
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- Bremer, on his first trip to northern Iraq since he assumed
his post two weeks ago, held talks in Mosul with local officials and hailed
"the embryonic democracy" in Mosul, which has already elected
its own local council.
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- Cheering Iraqis brought down the statue of Saddam's predecessor
in Baghdad Sunday, one of the last remaining symbols of the 35-year reign
of the Baath Party.
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- Iraqis brought a crane into the Mansur district of Baghdad
and knocked down the only statue in the city of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr who
served as president from 1968 to 1979.
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- "Exterminate Baath criminals," read a banner
held by Iraqis who watched as Bakr's statue was brought down. "No
mercy with Saddam's regime," another banner read.
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