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Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/
Tuesday, April 22, 2003

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AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar (Reuters) - Iraqi faction leaders will meet in Baghdad on Saturday for U.S.-backed talks on setting up an interim administration to run the country following the toppling of Saddam Hussein, U.S. officials said.

Officials at Central Command in Qatar said the meeting was the follow-up to a gathering in the southern city of Nassiriya last week, at which faction leaders came together for the first time since the fall of Saddam.

The Nassiriya meeting, however, was boycotted by some important groups.

Jay Garner, the retired U.S. general overseeing Iraq's reconstruction, will attend the meeting in Baghdad, officials said.

Garner is director of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, the agency charged with running Iraq until an interim Iraqi administration is set up.

His appointment has prompted Arab suspicion about Washington's plans for Iraq and calls for the United Nations to be given the job instead.

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Direct Link:
--http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2604439

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