Iraqis set timetable for power transfer
Saturday, November 15, 2003 Posted: 10:12 AM EST (1512 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq will have a new transitional government with full sovereign powers by the end of June 2004, the Iraqi Governing Council said today, and will have a constitution and a permanent, democratically elected government by the end of 2005.
The statement followed a meeting with the U.S.-backed coalition's civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer, who recently met with President Bush. He returned to Baghdad with new proposals for the council aimed at speeding up the transfer of authority to Iraqis.
The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority will dissolve at that time, council authorities said in Saturday's news conference, and "the state of occupation will end."
The council did not, however, discuss the Bush administration's insistence that any transfer of power include arrangements for a continued U.S. and international military presence.
Many members of the Iraqi Governing Council -- as well as some leaders of the U.S. Congress -- have said they want the U.S. military to leave as soon as possible, but the White House said Friday that U.S. troops would remain in Iraq until former President Saddam Hussein is killed or captured.
The timetable calls for having a full constitution and a permanent government in place by June 2005, council member Ahmed Chalabi told reporters.
The constitution, council authorities said, will be drafted by a council "directly elected by the people."
The coalition-backed Governing Council and the cabinet ministers it appointed will remain in place until the new government takes over by the end of June.
The council members said first they will draft a law by the end of February that will include provisions for selecting the transitional council. That law also would provide for setting up a "democratic, federal, pluralistic united system of government" that respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people as well as the country's various religious sects, the council said.
"This law will embody the principles that find general consensus among the Iraqi people ... respect for human rights and respect for basic political freedoms, including freedom of religion and the practice of religion and the equality of all citizens," said council member Ahmed Chalabi, reading from a statement prepared by the council.
The new law will maintain a separation of the executive, judicial and legislative systems, civilian control of military and security forces, as well as some degree of autonomy for the Kurdish people in northern Iraq.
The announcement comes as attacks on coalition soldiers continue. One U.S. soldier was killed and two others wounded early Saturday when their two-vehicle military convoy hit a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad, a coalition spokesperson said Saturday.
The death brings to 45 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month alone. A total of 405 U.S. forces have died since the start of the war in March. No reliable source compiles numbers of Iraqis killed in the war, although The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20. The AP cautioned that the number came from only half of Iraq's hospitals.
The homemade bomb detonated in Baghdad's Ad Hamiah district at about 8:30 a.m., 1st Armored Division spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Bishop said.
The soldiers were bringing papers to a coalition base near the Shaheed monument, which honors Iraqi war heroes.
It's the third deadly roadside bomb attack on U.S. troops in as many days.
A U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded Friday morning when their Humvee struck a roadside bomb while they were on patrol in Baghdad.
Thursday, two U.S. soldiers were killed and three were wounded when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb north of Samarra, a 4th ID spokesman said.
Saturday's casualties come on the fourth day of the coalition's Operation Iron Hammer's offensive in Baghdad against Saddam loyalists and other insurgents.
In addition, the 4th Infantry Division has launched Operation Ivy Cyclone north of Baghdad, and the 82nd Airborne Division's Task Force All-American is operating to the west.
President Bush reiterated Friday that his strategy in Iraq is working.
"We're going to stay the course," Bush said in Washington, repeating his commitment to keep troops in Iraq "until the job is done."
Seven Iraqis killed in attack
North of Tikrit, U.S. Army teams struck a rocket launch site that threatened a Task Force Iron Horse base, a spokesman said Friday.
Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald said seven Iraqi insurgents were killed and another wounded as troops uncovered hundreds of missiles.
MacDonald said an AH-64 Apache helicopter first attacked the site Thursday evening after observing the operations.
A patrol sent to secure the site found three destroyed vehicles, including a flatbed truck carrying 50 missiles, MacDonald said.
A further search of the area turned up two bunkers filled with just under 1,000 BM-21 missiles that could be fired from a multiple rocket launcher, MacDonald said.
The wounded insurgent was treated, and the bodies of the seven dead were taken to an Iraqi police station so of next of kin could be contacted.
Other developments
⢠The former leader of the Ba'ath Party in Karbala organized and funded the recent rocket attacks on the al-Rashid Hotel October 27 and the U.S. Army Chinook helicopter on November 2 , U.S. defense source said Friday. Detained Iraqi fighters under interrogation, and other intelligence, implicated Khamis Sirhan Al-Muhammadi, No. 54 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis, the defense source said. Efforts are under way to find him. Sixteen U.S. soldiers were killed when the helicopter was shot down near Fallujah.
⢠The bodies of the 18 Italians killed in Wednesday's suicide bombing in Iraq are being flown home this weekend as Italy prepares for an official day of mourning. Nine Iraqis also died in the attack. About 20 Italian service members injured in the Nasiriya attack are to arrive home Friday. (Full story)
⢠U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Saturday said Washington will wait for Japan to assess Iraq's security before sending noncombat troops. Japan delayed deployment after this week's attack on Italian troops. "Each sovereign nation needs to think through precisely what makes the most sense from their standpoint and then engage in a way that they feel is appropriate," Rumsfeld said after meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo. (Full story)
Saturday, November 15, 2003 Posted: 10:12 AM EST (1512 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq will have a new transitional government with full sovereign powers by the end of June 2004, the Iraqi Governing Council said today, and will have a constitution and a permanent, democratically elected government by the end of 2005.
The statement followed a meeting with the U.S.-backed coalition's civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer, who recently met with President Bush. He returned to Baghdad with new proposals for the council aimed at speeding up the transfer of authority to Iraqis.
The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority will dissolve at that time, council authorities said in Saturday's news conference, and "the state of occupation will end."
The council did not, however, discuss the Bush administration's insistence that any transfer of power include arrangements for a continued U.S. and international military presence.
Many members of the Iraqi Governing Council -- as well as some leaders of the U.S. Congress -- have said they want the U.S. military to leave as soon as possible, but the White House said Friday that U.S. troops would remain in Iraq until former President Saddam Hussein is killed or captured.
The timetable calls for having a full constitution and a permanent government in place by June 2005, council member Ahmed Chalabi told reporters.
The constitution, council authorities said, will be drafted by a council "directly elected by the people."
The coalition-backed Governing Council and the cabinet ministers it appointed will remain in place until the new government takes over by the end of June.
The council members said first they will draft a law by the end of February that will include provisions for selecting the transitional council. That law also would provide for setting up a "democratic, federal, pluralistic united system of government" that respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people as well as the country's various religious sects, the council said.
"This law will embody the principles that find general consensus among the Iraqi people ... respect for human rights and respect for basic political freedoms, including freedom of religion and the practice of religion and the equality of all citizens," said council member Ahmed Chalabi, reading from a statement prepared by the council.
The new law will maintain a separation of the executive, judicial and legislative systems, civilian control of military and security forces, as well as some degree of autonomy for the Kurdish people in northern Iraq.
The announcement comes as attacks on coalition soldiers continue. One U.S. soldier was killed and two others wounded early Saturday when their two-vehicle military convoy hit a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad, a coalition spokesperson said Saturday.
The death brings to 45 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month alone. A total of 405 U.S. forces have died since the start of the war in March. No reliable source compiles numbers of Iraqis killed in the war, although The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20. The AP cautioned that the number came from only half of Iraq's hospitals.
The homemade bomb detonated in Baghdad's Ad Hamiah district at about 8:30 a.m., 1st Armored Division spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Bishop said.
The soldiers were bringing papers to a coalition base near the Shaheed monument, which honors Iraqi war heroes.
It's the third deadly roadside bomb attack on U.S. troops in as many days.
A U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded Friday morning when their Humvee struck a roadside bomb while they were on patrol in Baghdad.
Thursday, two U.S. soldiers were killed and three were wounded when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb north of Samarra, a 4th ID spokesman said.
Saturday's casualties come on the fourth day of the coalition's Operation Iron Hammer's offensive in Baghdad against Saddam loyalists and other insurgents.
In addition, the 4th Infantry Division has launched Operation Ivy Cyclone north of Baghdad, and the 82nd Airborne Division's Task Force All-American is operating to the west.
President Bush reiterated Friday that his strategy in Iraq is working.
"We're going to stay the course," Bush said in Washington, repeating his commitment to keep troops in Iraq "until the job is done."
Seven Iraqis killed in attack
North of Tikrit, U.S. Army teams struck a rocket launch site that threatened a Task Force Iron Horse base, a spokesman said Friday.
Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald said seven Iraqi insurgents were killed and another wounded as troops uncovered hundreds of missiles.
MacDonald said an AH-64 Apache helicopter first attacked the site Thursday evening after observing the operations.
A patrol sent to secure the site found three destroyed vehicles, including a flatbed truck carrying 50 missiles, MacDonald said.
A further search of the area turned up two bunkers filled with just under 1,000 BM-21 missiles that could be fired from a multiple rocket launcher, MacDonald said.
The wounded insurgent was treated, and the bodies of the seven dead were taken to an Iraqi police station so of next of kin could be contacted.
Other developments
⢠The former leader of the Ba'ath Party in Karbala organized and funded the recent rocket attacks on the al-Rashid Hotel October 27 and the U.S. Army Chinook helicopter on November 2 , U.S. defense source said Friday. Detained Iraqi fighters under interrogation, and other intelligence, implicated Khamis Sirhan Al-Muhammadi, No. 54 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis, the defense source said. Efforts are under way to find him. Sixteen U.S. soldiers were killed when the helicopter was shot down near Fallujah.
⢠The bodies of the 18 Italians killed in Wednesday's suicide bombing in Iraq are being flown home this weekend as Italy prepares for an official day of mourning. Nine Iraqis also died in the attack. About 20 Italian service members injured in the Nasiriya attack are to arrive home Friday. (Full story)
⢠U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Saturday said Washington will wait for Japan to assess Iraq's security before sending noncombat troops. Japan delayed deployment after this week's attack on Italian troops. "Each sovereign nation needs to think through precisely what makes the most sense from their standpoint and then engage in a way that they feel is appropriate," Rumsfeld said after meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo. (Full story)
