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BBC NEWS:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Wed May 21, 2003

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The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has announced a new delay in the timetable for setting up an interim Iraqi authority.

Mr Bremer said he expected the national conference to choose the new government would most likely be held in mid-July - more than a month later than originally planned.

In another setback, the British military authorities in southern Iraq have postponed local elections in the port of Umm Qasr, saying they need more time to organise the vote.

The US has also agreed to further revise its draft resolution on Iraq's future, with a vote at the United Nations not now expected until at least Thursday.

Critics have accused Washington of not acting quickly enough to hand power to the Iraqis and to restore law and order.

In Baghdad, Mr Bremer said he was continuing an active dialogue with Iraqi leaders "to broaden our reach with partners we're talking to".

"We want a government representative of all Iraqi people," he told reporters, during a visit to a renovated prison.

"We are moving as quickly as we can."

He reiterated that the US did not intend to stay in Iraq any longer than it had to.

The top UK civilian in Baghdad, John Sawers, said on Tuesday that he did not expect elections there to be held in under a year - and coalition troops would continue to run the country until then.

Umm Qasr model

In Umm Qasr, an administrative town council had been due to be elected on Thursday, in a process designed to act as a model for other communities in Iraq.

But a spokeswoman for the British army said the council had yet to draw up either a constitutional mechanism for the ballot or a register of electors.

The election is unlikely to take place now until the end of next week at the earliest.

The BBC's Richard Lister in Umm Qasr says life in the town, the first to fall to US-led forces, is slowly returning to normal, but it appears the British army was somewhat optimistic in trying to hold Iraq's first fully democratic election so quickly.

About 300 influential Iraqis held a meeting in Baghdad in April and agreed on a national conference by the end of May.

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Direct Link:
--http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/3046947.stm

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