- BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Iraq's
interim government will take control of the country on Monday, two days
earlier than the scheduled handover of sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupying
power, sources said.
-
- Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told reporters on the
sidelines of a NATO summit in Istanbul that the formal handover to an interim
government could be advanced from the planned date of June 30.
-
- A source in the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad said it
would take place on Monday.
-
- Zebari, speaking after meeting British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, did not say how far the date would be brought forward.
-
- Blair declined to confirm the date change, but told reporters:
"The important thing is that from now on Iraq controls its own destiny."
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- The 26 NATO nations were due to offer security forces
training on Monday to the interim Baghdad government.
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- "I believe that we will challenge these terrorists,
criminals, Saddamists and anti-democratic forces by bringing even the date
of the handover forward," Zebari said.
-
- Militants have kidnapped a U.S. Marine, a Pakistani driver
and three Turkish civilian workers and threatened to behead them during
the run-up to the handover of power, which had been scheduled for Wednesday.
-
- "After June 30, it will be up to us to run our country
and to manage our security," Zebari said. "It will be an acid
test of our country and our future."
-
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