Conference to elect Iraq's interim government expected in July, U.S. administrator says

Associated Press | May 21, 2003

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BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 21, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- A national conference that will pick Iraq's new interim government will probably be held in mid-July, L. Paul Bremer, the country's U.S. civilian administrator said Wednesday.

"We are continuing our active dialogue with Iraqi leaders, we are meeting with them every day," Bremer said during a tour of the newly reopened al-Karkh jail on the outskirts of Baghdad.

He said his goal was to establish a government "representative of all Iraqis."

Copyright 2003 Associated Press, All rights reserved

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Conference to elect Iraq's interim government expected in July, U.S. administrator says

JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, May 20, 2003

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A national conference that will pick Iraq's new interim government probably won't be held until mid-July, Iraq's U.S. civilian administrator said Wednesday.

Six weeks after the U.S. military took Baghdad and Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed, Iraq remains without a formal government. Ministries are operating under American auspices, staffed by Iraqis who know their employment may be limited.

"We are continuing our active dialogue with Iraqi leaders, we are meeting with them every day," L. Paul Bremer said during a tour of the newly reopened al-Karkh jail on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Initially, Iraq's U.S.-led administration had planned to convene a conference of Iraqi political figures and form an interim government by early June. But that date seems to have been pushed back at least a month.

"I don't think it will be in June," Bremer told reporters. "We're talking now like sometime in July to get a national conference put together." When pressed further, Bremer replied: "Mid-July."

"I'm not going to stick myself with any kind of media deadline," he added.

The United States has held two large conferences, hosting scores of Iraqi political figures for discussions on what form the interim government should take. But exactly how and when that will be done has never been stated specifically.

Making those plans more urgent is unwillingness among Iraqis to tolerate a long-term U.S. military occupation.

Bremer said the coalition's goal was to create a government that would include all of Iraq's social, religious and ethnic groups.

"We want a government representative of all Iraqi people," he said. "That's the process we're in now. We are moving as quickly as we can."

Bremer said coalition forces would stay in Iraq only as long as they were needed.

"We have no strategic desire to be in Iraq any longer than we have to," he said.