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BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In a Baghdad art gallery, Iraq's new grass-roots democracy struggles through a noisy birth. About 25 men and women debate in a sweltering room, hands and arms knifing the air for emphasis. The chairman, in a blue blazer and tie, slaps his hand on the table for order. It's their eighth meeting, and he doesn't have a gavel. This animated group is one of Baghdad's nine new district councils, part of an effort to rebuild Iraq's civil society and give its citizens a taste of democracy. Working with a North Carolina nonprofit organization, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional...

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to recognize the Iraq's new Governing Council as a step toward the formation of a true government. Annan also said the Security Council should establish a U.N. mission in Iraq and he chided the members for failing to say anything about the 25-member Governing Council after three of its members addressed a Security Council meeting on July 22. Spain circulated a draft statement after that meeting welcoming the Governing Council as an important first step toward the formation of an internationally recognized government in Iraq. But...

BAGHDAD - A council of up to nine Iraqis will probably lead the country’s still unformed interim government through the coming months, the American civil administrator said on Monday.Retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner also said he expects the newly appointed L. Paul Bremer, former head of the State Department’s counter terrorism office, to take charge of the political process within the US postwar administration.“What you may see is as many as seven, eight, nine leaders working together to provide leadership,” Garner said. He added, though, that he didn’t know how the collective leadership would function specifically.The Iraqi leaders Garner referred...

Rival Ethnic Groups to Vote in Iraq's First Ballot 6 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Huda Majeed Saleh BAGHDAD (Reuters) - In the first vote in Iraq (news - web sites) since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was ousted last month, rival ethnic groups in Mosul were set to elect an interim council on Monday and a leading Iraqi Kurdish group made its voice heard in Damascus. Reuters Photo (Reuters Video) Latest news: · Rival Ethnic Groups to Vote in Iraq's First BallotReuters - 6 minutes ago · Police Return to Work...