Iraq's new legislators vow to uphold freedom and democracy
March 17, 2005

By Patrick Quinn, Associated Press:

The newly sworn-in members of Iraq's 275-seat National Assembly failed to elect a speaker, set a date to reconvene or even nominate a president, but they did celebrate the enormous obstacles Iraq has overcome.

Many of the new deputies wore traditional robes trimmed in gold, and mingled with austere Shiite clerics in black robes and turbans during their swearing-in on Wednesday. Men thought to be pegged for government jobs mostly wore tan or gray suits, while nearly all the 85 women lawmakers wore headscarves.

''This day marks a new birth for all Iraqis. It marks the birth of the parliament,'' said Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Shiite politician expected to be Iraq's next prime minister.

Before taking their oaths Wednesday, some two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, lawmakers had to endure mortar barrages and wailing air raid sirens as insurgents made their presence felt.

Absent from the assembly hall were large numbers of Sunni Arabs, thought to make up the core of the insurgency. Sunnis, who were favored under Saddam's regime, mostly stayed away from the national elections either to honor a boycott call or because of fears of being attacked at the polls
by militants.

President Bush called the session a ''bright moment'' for Iraq but added there was no timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. ''We've always said this is a process, and today was a step in that process. It's a hopeful moment,'' Bush said in Washington.

The U.S. military announced on Thursday that it had rescued a hostage and detained two Iraqi men during a raid late Wednesday near Beiji, 150 miles north of Baghdad. The statement did not identify the hostage, saying only that he had been a ''kidnap victim.''

In Kirkuk, gunmen late Wednesday killed the officer in charge of the northern city's criminal investigations department, said police chief Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul Rahman.

Also Wednesday, a U.S. soldier died in a roadside bomb blast south of Baghdad, the military said, while a car bomb northeast of the capital killed four Iraqis and injured 15.

Meanwhile, outgoing U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte flew out of Iraq on Thursday after a nearly nine-month stint to return to the United States, the U.S. Embassy said, adding that charge d'affaires James F. Jeffrey will assume responsibility for the vacant post temporarily.

Negroponte had served as ambassador to Iraq since arriving here June 30, 2004, just hours after the handover of sovereignty to Iraq's government. His replacement has not been announced.

While it was a historic day for Iraqi democracy, Wednesday also served as a reminder of a scarred past the 17th anniversary of a chemical attack that Saddam ordered on the northern Kurdish town
of Halabja.

Although Wednesday could have been a day of celebration on Baghdad's streets, many were devoid of traffic blocked off by security forces fearing suicide attacks and car bombs. Traffic restrictions also kept many people away from work.

So Iraqis instead gathered in homes to watch the ceremony live on state-run television and Arab satellite channels.

''It is a new stage for us that makes people feel freedom and the beginning of a real Iraqi state. It will make us feel that we're no different from others in the world in applying the democratic process,'' said Kadum Ali Audah, 35, who works in the communications ministry.

Elected on Jan. 30, when insurgent attacks killed more than 40 people, the National Assembly ended its first session Wednesday with an oath to protect Iraq's ''federal democratic system'' and ''public and private liberties.''

Cleric Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, which holds the largest block of assembly seats, led a series of prayers thanking God for giving Iraqis the courage to cast aside their fear and vote.

''This is a great historical achievement that challenged the bombs of death and those with a deep hatred of life,'' he said, referring to the insurgency.

The ceremony had its odder moments.

At one point someone asked if the oath should be repeated in Kurdish, only to be completely ignored, while during al-Hakim's speech a number of delegates found themselves automatically replying to religious phrases in his address a sermon-like affair that sounded more like a long prayer than a political speech.

The failure to appoint top officials stemmed from the inability of Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs to agree on a speaker for the new legislature as well as renewed haggling over Cabinet posts. Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi reportedly rejected an offer to be the defense minister.

Talks among Shiites, Kurds who are mostly Sunni Muslim but secular and Sunni Arabs have focused on a speaker, a high-profile position designed mainly to serve as moderator of parliamentary debate. Shiites and Kurds want a Sunni Arab for the post, but have been unable choose which one.

Although they make up only about 20 percent of the population, Sunni Arabs dominated the government under Saddam, whose regime was toppled on April 9, 2003. Of the assembly's 275 members, 182 are Shiites and just 17 are Sunni Arab.

Insurgents, hoping to disrupt the ceremony, fired seven mortar rounds in quick succession at the convention center that temporarily houses parliament in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

The explosions and air raid sirens sent people outside scurrying for cover. Inside, the blasts brought a startled silence to assembled delegates but did not prevent the ceremony from taking place.

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