Iraq takes a step towards democracy
In the streets of Baghdad, violence against US forces erupted again, with one soldier killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.
At the close of its first full day of business, the council issued a statement that said the UN delegation would "assert and emphasise the role of the governing council as a legitimate Iraqi body during this transitional period".
Yesterday was also the 45th anniversary of a bloody coup in 1958 when King Faisal, Iraq's last monarch, was killed by nationalists, provoking years of political unrest. It is an occasion that was celebrated under Saddam Hussein, but monarchists in Baghdad were able to gather for the first time to mourn the king's assassination.
Thousands of people including Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds attended a ceremony in honour of the possible successor to the throne, Sharif Ali bin Hussein, who greeted well-wishers at his palatial headquarters.
In west Baghdad, one US soldier was killed and six wounded in the attack by insurgents who fired several grenades at the military convoy. A marine also died in southern Iraq in a non-hostile incident. The military provided no details. The death brought to 32 the number of US soldiers killed in hostile action since President George W Bush declared an end to major fighting on May 1.
The violence followed an apparent failed car bombing on a police station full of US soldiers and Iraqi police. A white Volkswagen was destroyed and a badly mangled and headless body lay nearby, said Iraqi police Sergeant Adel Shakir. He said the body was thought to have been one of two men who were attempting to get the explosive-packed car near the station.
In other business, the governing council which brings together Iraq's diverse mosaic of Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and ethnic Turks formed three committees to outline an order of business for the coming weeks and work out organisational issues, said Hoshyar Zebari, a spokesman for the council.
The council had planned to select a leader during yesterday's session, but Mr Zebari said that would be done later. With the US military still struggling on the security front, establishment of the council was a major political step, giving an Iraqi face to the occupation of the country.
American administrators had changed plans several times in the past months, wavering over how much authority to give the new body, which fuelled a feeling among many Iraqis that the Americans had come as colonisers, not liberators.
It has yet to be seen whether the council can convince the Iraqi people that it represents them, even though they never had a chance to vote on its members. Coalition leaders say an election in Iraq is not yet practical.
The panel is meant to be the forerunner of a 200-250 member constitutional assembly, planned to start in September, drawing up a draft constitution, a process expected to take nine months to a year. Iraqis would then vote on the draft in a national referendum. Free elections to pick a government are expected to follow.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned the American public to expect more attacks on US forces in Iraq over the summer.
Baath party members mark "a number of anniversaries" this month, and could use July to launch more assaults, he said. "We expect that the summer's not going to be a peaceful summer," he added. "It's tough, and people are being killed, and more people are going to be killed," he said.
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