- Iraq's foreign minister on Tuesday blamed "geriatric
ambassadors" from the West and "American infighting" for
many of the problems and security failures bedevilling the US-led occupation.
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- The comments from a leading Iraqi politician came as
Paul Bremer, the US chief civilian administrator in Baghdad, cancelled
a meeting with Leszek Miller, visiting Polish prime minister, to return
for talks in Washington.
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- US officials said Mr Bremer was making a regular trip
back, but there was speculation he was going to discuss a change in strategy.
He arrived on Tuesday for a meeting with Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary,
Colin Powell, secretary of state, and Condoleezza Rice, national security
adviser.
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- In response to public complaints from unnamed Bush administration
officials that Iraq's Interim Governing Council had become an obstacle
to progress, Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, defended the IGC.
"I think this debate about the ruling council - that it is not doing
its work, that it is not taking decisions - this is unfair," Mr Zebari
told the FT.
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- "American infighting among themselves between different
departments over policy . . . has created many, many of the difficulties
that we are going through."
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- Mr Zebari also criticised the quality of advice that
Mr Bremer had received on security issues, although he said co-operation
had improved since the early days after Baghdad fell in April.
-
- Since the end of Saddam Hussein's regime, the former
opposition groups that dominate the council have been pressing for more
control over the security situation in Iraq. "The problem with the
coalition is that they have some experts, so-called, who still live in
the 1950s, in the 1940s - some geriatric ambassadors who have a certain
interpretation of how Iraq works. It has gone, it has changed," Mr
Zebari said.
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- US officials have criticised the 24 members of the IGC
for failing to attend meetings and pursuing personal interests at the expense
of the coalition's agenda to restore Iraqi self-government.
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- The chief concern has been that the IGC will fail to
meet a December 15 deadline for setting a schedule for writing a new constitution
and holding elections. Mr Powell this week raised for the first time the
possibility of putting in place a "basic law" in Iraq "before
we get to a full constitution". Mr Zebari insisted the IGC would meet
the deadline.
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- Meanwhile, Mr Rumsfeld is poised to announce the appointment
of an inspector-general for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq
to investigate the awarding of reconstruction contracts. The move is in
response to congressional demands for more accountability.
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- © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2003.
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- http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=Story
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