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VOA News
http://www.voanews.com/
June 2, 2003

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A senior American official in Iraq says the U.S. authority there will appoint an interim Iraqi political council to help govern the country.

U.S. and British officials had previously suggested that Iraqis would choose their own interim government in a national conference.

The American official, who asked not to be identified, says the council will consist of 25-30 Iraqi leaders chosen in consultation with the Iraqi people. He says the council will be asked to suggest Iraqi advisers for government ministries and to make recommendations on policy questions in areas such as education and trade.

The U.S. official says a separate group, which wil possibly be chosen through a national convention, would be set up to draft a new Iraqi constitution.

The American civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, gave a briefing on the plan to representatives of seven former Iraqi exile groups on Sunday. The Washington Post said the representatives were critical of the plan, saying ordinary Iraqis would see it as an attempt to keep them from assuming even nominal control of their own country.

Meanwhile, hundreds of former Iraqi soldiers protested in Baghdad today, demanding they be paid. Mr. Bremer later told reporters the coalition will start recruiting for a new Iraqi army by the end of this month. Mr. Bremer dissolved the Iraqi armed forces and several of Saddam Hussein's security forces in May, putting some 400,000 Iraqis out of work.

Meanwhile, Iraqis have begun to receive their first food rations from the United Nations' World Food Program since the fall of the Saddam's government on April 9.

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Direct Link:
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