Iraqis to Manage All Ministries Before June 30By Gerry J. Gilmore WASHINGTON, June 21, 2004 – Iraqis will assume management of all national government ministries before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty, the Coalition Provisional Authority's chief spokesman said today. "Nearly 60 percent of the Iraqi government is already transitioned to sovereignty," Dan Senor told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. And, he noted, Iraqi officials are slated to assume control of the remaining ministries by the end of the week. With nine days remaining before the transfer of power, Iraqis now run 15 of the 26 national government ministries, Senor pointed out. Iraqi-managed ministries, he said, currently include: foreign affairs, health, education, public works and municipalities, oil, science and technology, agriculture, displacement and migration, culture, water resources, industry and minerals, planning and development, youth and sport, environment and transportation. After June 30, Senor said, coalition consultants working with the ministries would provide only technical assistance as determined and requested by the Iraqi government. About 1.3 million Iraqis now work for the national government, Senor noted. "By the end of this week, all of them will be reporting to Iraqi supervisors and Iraqi ministers," he pointed out, "several days before the June 30 handover." All of Iraq's provincial governments are now up and running, Senor said, and about 90 percent of Iraq's municipalities have operating councils. "And so, the gradual sovereignty process that we've pursued is not just limited exclusively to the national government," Senor explained. "It is also thriving at the provincial and municipal levels."
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