US to stick with plan for Iraq handover: Bremer

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, January 17, 2004

US to stick with plan for Iraq handover: Bremer

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Paul Bremer, the chief US administrator in Iraq, said on Friday the United States will stick with a plan for returning sovereignty to the Iraqi people by July 1, despite opposition from Iraq's top Shiite cleric.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with US President George W. Bush and top Bush administration officials at the White House earlier in the day, Bremer said much still remains to be worked out in order to meet the July 1 deadline.

"We need to try to find a way to go forward in a transparent and representative fashion," he said. "We have doubts, as does thesecretary-general, that elections can in fact be called in the time frame of the return of Iraqi sovereignty on June 30."

Bremer and members of the Iraqi Governing Council will meet in New York on Monday with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. They hopeto enlist the United Nations, which opposed the war in Iraq, in working out the details for what will be the country's first elections of the post-Saddam era.

"The UN has a lot of expertise in organizing elections, electoral commissions, electoral laws. It has a great deal of expertise it can bring to bear in the process of writing a constitution," he said. "All of these things I'm sure are going tobe discussed during the course of the day Monday."

On Thursday, tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets inthe southern city of Basra in a peaceful rally to support demands by Grand Ayatohlah Ali al-Sistani for early, direct elections.

They chanted, "No to America," "Yes to Sistani," and some carried signs calling for a UN role in the transition process.

The transition plan, worked out by US officials and the Iraqi Governing Council, calls for nationwide meetings to choose a Transitional National Assembly that would appoint an interim government, in June, to run the country until elections late next year.

Questions?Comments? Click here

US to formally launch handover of power to Iraq

Exploration rover "Spirit" lands safely on Mars ( 9 Messages)

Two major state banks to pilot joint-stock system ( 3 Messages)

China pondering its own "green card" system ( 16 Messages)

Roaring BMW: Was it "road rage" or an accident? ( 2 Messages)

Beijing's traffic no longer a headache by year 2008 ( 5 Messages)