US eyes alternatives to Iraqi council: leading newspaper

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 10, 2003

US eyes alternatives to Iraqi council: leading newspaper

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The Bush administration, is developing possible alternatives to the council to ensure that the United States can turn over political power at the same time and pace that troops are withdrawn, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

According to the newspaper, increasingly alarmed by the failureof Iraq's Governing Council to take decisive action, the United States is deeply frustrated with its hand-picked council members because they have spent more time on their own political oreconomic interests than in planning for Iraq's political future,especially selecting a committee to write a new constitution.

"We're unhappy with all of them. They're not acting as alegislative or governing body, and we need to get moving," the newspaper quoted a well-placed US official as saying on the condition of anonymity. "They just don't make decisions when they need to," the official added.

Ambassador Robert Blackwill, the new US National Security Council official overseeing Iraq's political transition, begins an unannounced trip this weekend to Iraq to meet with Iraqi politicians to drive home that point.

Blackwill is also discussing US options with Paul Bremer,civilian administrator of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, US officials said.

Among several options, the United States is considering a French proposal, earlier rejected, to create an interim Iraqileadership that would emulate the Afghanistan model.

The Bush administration is also considering changing the orderof the transition if it looks as though it could drag on much longer than the United States had planned.

The United States has long insisted that a new constitution wasthe essential first step and elections the final phase in handingover power.

But now US officials are exploring the possibility of creatinga provisional government with effective sovereignty to governuntil a new constitution is written and elections held.

Despite its frustrations with the effectiveness of the Iraqicouncil, the Bush administration holds publicly that it is not yet at the point of abandoning the council.

"Ambassador Bremer is working with the Governing Council," aWhite House official said Saturday.

"Our priority focus now in working with the council is toformulate a plan to meet the Dec. 15 deadline outlined in UN Resolution 1511, which calls for the council to formulate a timetable and program for the drafting of a new constitution and for the holding of democratic elections under that constitution,"the official added.

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