Council launched in Iraq

A US-BACKED Iraqi Governing Council held its inaugural meeting yesterday, stressing the start of a new era by abolishing national holidays that honoured Saddam Hussein and creating a new one to mark his downfall.

The 25-member interim council has the ability to appoint ministers, approve the national budget and review laws, although ultimate authority remains with the occupying powers that have ruled Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam on April 9.

“Saddam has been tossed into the rubbish bin of history and will not be coming back,” said Mohammad Bahr al-Uloum, a Shi’ite cleric and council member, many of whose relatives were killed by Saddam’s government.