June 28, 2004 5:15 PM
Iraq returns to self-rule
By Alistair Lyon and Lin Noueihed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States has handed sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days earlier than expected, aiming to
forestall guerrilla attacks with a secretive ceremony formally ending 14 months of occupation.
Iraq's outgoing U.S. governor Paul Bremer handed a letter to Iraq leaders sealing the formal transfer of powers before immediately flying out
of the country.
The low-key ceremony was over before it was announced and came as a surprise to ordinary Iraqis. Its hurried and secret nature appeared
to reflect fears that guerrillas could stage a spectacular attack on the scheduled date of June 30.
At a second ceremony in the afternoon -- this time broadcast live on Iraqi television -- the government was sworn in and Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi urged all Iraqis to stand together against foreign militants wreaking havoc in the country.
"I call on our people to stand united to expel the foreign terrorists who are killing our children and destroying our country," Allawi said, in
comments broadcast around the world.
At the earlier ceremony, which formally transferred sovereignty at 10:26 a.m. (7:26 a.m. British time), President Ghazi Yawar hailed "a
historic day, a happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to".
U.S. President George W. Bush quietly took note of the secret handover by checking his watch at a NATO summit in Istanbul and shaking
hands with his closest war ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair. The two exchanged knowing smiles and shook hands as they sat around a table
listening to speeches.
Bush later hailed the handover as "a day of great hope for Iraqis" and pledged not to abandon Iraq.
U.S. and British officials say the handover is a key step on the path to democracy in Iraq, but one of the government's first actions as a
sovereign power is expected to be the imposition of emergency laws, including curfews, to crack down on guerrillas.
U.S. officials attending the NATO summit admitted that thwarting a surge in attacks believed to be planned for the formal Wednesday
handover date was a factor in the decision to advance it to Monday, which they said Allawi had requested.
"We have said all along that we believed that the terrorists on the ground were going to do everything they can to literally and figuratively
blow up the handover of sovereignty," one said.
Such an attack could have damaged attempts by Bush, who faces a presidential election in November, to start an orderly disengagement
from Iraq, where hundreds of U.S. soldiers have died since last year's invasion.
CONSTRAINTS ON POWER
Although Allawi's government will have "full sovereignty", according to a U.N. Security Council resolution earlier this month, there are
important constraints on its powers.
It is barred from making long-term policy decisions and will not have control over more than 160,000 foreign troops who will remain in Iraq.
The government has the right to ask them to leave, but has made clear it has no intention of doing so.
Allawi said after the handover that he was committed to holding elections in January as scheduled. Last week he was quoted as saying
insecurity might force the polls to be postponed until February or March.
"The Iraqi government is determined to go ahead with elections on January 2 of next year," Allawi told reporters.
As part of the handover, Saddam Hussein will soon go before an Iraqi judge to be charged and transferred to Iraqi legal custody, but will still
be physically held by U.S.-led forces, a military official said. Saddam fled when U.S. forces took Baghdad on April 9 last year, but was
captured in December.
"He will stand in front of an Iraqi judge and he will be handed his indictments," the coalition official said.
HOSTAGE CRISIS
Guerrillas have mounted bloody attacks this month aimed at disrupting the handover, and several foreign hostages have also been seized
over the past week.
On Sunday, the Arabic-language satellite channel Al Jazeera broadcast footage of a blindfolded U.S. Marine, whose captors said they
would kill him unless Iraqi prisoners were released.
"A Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force has been absent from his unit since June 21," a U.S. statement said. "However,
Naval Criminal Investigative Services cannot confirm that Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun has been taken hostage."
Militants have already seized three Turks and a Pakistani driver working as a contractor for U.S. forces this month.
Fighters loyal to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said on Saturday they were holding the Turks and would behead them within 72 hours
unless Turks stopped working with U.S. forces.
The threats have cast a shadow over Bush's visit to Turkey for the NATO summit.
Turkey and Pakistan are not part of the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq but many of their nationals work for U.S. troops. Both countries
have rejected the kidnappers' demands.
The distraught mother of Pakistani driver Amjad Hafeez appealed for his release, saying he had done nothing wrong. "Hell descended on
me when I heard the news," Saeeda Jehan told Reuters in the mountain village of Panyola in Pakistan.
Zarqawi's group beheaded a South Korean hostage last week after Seoul rejected a demand to withdraw its forces from Iraq, and last
month decapitated a U.S. captive.
Zarqawi has also claimed responsibility for a series of attacks, including an onslaught in five cities on Thursday that killed over 100 Iraqis
and three U.S. soldiers.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5044470
Iraq returns to self-rule
By Alistair Lyon and Lin Noueihed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States has handed sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days earlier than expected, aiming to
forestall guerrilla attacks with a secretive ceremony formally ending 14 months of occupation.
Iraq's outgoing U.S. governor Paul Bremer handed a letter to Iraq leaders sealing the formal transfer of powers before immediately flying out
of the country.
The low-key ceremony was over before it was announced and came as a surprise to ordinary Iraqis. Its hurried and secret nature appeared
to reflect fears that guerrillas could stage a spectacular attack on the scheduled date of June 30.
At a second ceremony in the afternoon -- this time broadcast live on Iraqi television -- the government was sworn in and Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi urged all Iraqis to stand together against foreign militants wreaking havoc in the country.
"I call on our people to stand united to expel the foreign terrorists who are killing our children and destroying our country," Allawi said, in
comments broadcast around the world.
At the earlier ceremony, which formally transferred sovereignty at 10:26 a.m. (7:26 a.m. British time), President Ghazi Yawar hailed "a
historic day, a happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to".
U.S. President George W. Bush quietly took note of the secret handover by checking his watch at a NATO summit in Istanbul and shaking
hands with his closest war ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair. The two exchanged knowing smiles and shook hands as they sat around a table
listening to speeches.
Bush later hailed the handover as "a day of great hope for Iraqis" and pledged not to abandon Iraq.
U.S. and British officials say the handover is a key step on the path to democracy in Iraq, but one of the government's first actions as a
sovereign power is expected to be the imposition of emergency laws, including curfews, to crack down on guerrillas.
U.S. officials attending the NATO summit admitted that thwarting a surge in attacks believed to be planned for the formal Wednesday
handover date was a factor in the decision to advance it to Monday, which they said Allawi had requested.
"We have said all along that we believed that the terrorists on the ground were going to do everything they can to literally and figuratively
blow up the handover of sovereignty," one said.
Such an attack could have damaged attempts by Bush, who faces a presidential election in November, to start an orderly disengagement
from Iraq, where hundreds of U.S. soldiers have died since last year's invasion.
CONSTRAINTS ON POWER
Although Allawi's government will have "full sovereignty", according to a U.N. Security Council resolution earlier this month, there are
important constraints on its powers.
It is barred from making long-term policy decisions and will not have control over more than 160,000 foreign troops who will remain in Iraq.
The government has the right to ask them to leave, but has made clear it has no intention of doing so.
Allawi said after the handover that he was committed to holding elections in January as scheduled. Last week he was quoted as saying
insecurity might force the polls to be postponed until February or March.
"The Iraqi government is determined to go ahead with elections on January 2 of next year," Allawi told reporters.
As part of the handover, Saddam Hussein will soon go before an Iraqi judge to be charged and transferred to Iraqi legal custody, but will still
be physically held by U.S.-led forces, a military official said. Saddam fled when U.S. forces took Baghdad on April 9 last year, but was
captured in December.
"He will stand in front of an Iraqi judge and he will be handed his indictments," the coalition official said.
HOSTAGE CRISIS
Guerrillas have mounted bloody attacks this month aimed at disrupting the handover, and several foreign hostages have also been seized
over the past week.
On Sunday, the Arabic-language satellite channel Al Jazeera broadcast footage of a blindfolded U.S. Marine, whose captors said they
would kill him unless Iraqi prisoners were released.
"A Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force has been absent from his unit since June 21," a U.S. statement said. "However,
Naval Criminal Investigative Services cannot confirm that Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun has been taken hostage."
Militants have already seized three Turks and a Pakistani driver working as a contractor for U.S. forces this month.
Fighters loyal to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said on Saturday they were holding the Turks and would behead them within 72 hours
unless Turks stopped working with U.S. forces.
The threats have cast a shadow over Bush's visit to Turkey for the NATO summit.
Turkey and Pakistan are not part of the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq but many of their nationals work for U.S. troops. Both countries
have rejected the kidnappers' demands.
The distraught mother of Pakistani driver Amjad Hafeez appealed for his release, saying he had done nothing wrong. "Hell descended on
me when I heard the news," Saeeda Jehan told Reuters in the mountain village of Panyola in Pakistan.
Zarqawi's group beheaded a South Korean hostage last week after Seoul rejected a demand to withdraw its forces from Iraq, and last
month decapitated a U.S. captive.
Zarqawi has also claimed responsibility for a series of attacks, including an onslaught in five cities on Thursday that killed over 100 Iraqis
and three U.S. soldiers.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5044470
