Iraq: Reconstruction talks begin

The job of rebuilding Iraq from its war-torn ruins begins today with the first of a series of meetings to shape an interim authority and a future government.

A “big-tent” meeting in the southern city of Nasiriyah will bring together representatives of Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Muslims, as well as exiles who have lived for years outside Iraq.

It is “an important and great day for the Iraqi people,” said US presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer.

The gathering comes after the military has said “major” combat had ceased and the country was turning from war to a difficult peace, as the key city of Tikrit was taken by coalition forces with little or no opposition.

A US-led interim authority to govern the country could be up and running within weeks, according to senior US officials.

Troops have already cracked-down on lawlessness and looting to restore order.

But already rivalries are emerging between different ethnic, religious and exiled groups and some may not take part in the meeting.

A senior US government official said: “Part of the reason for having this conversation is to introduce these people to each other.

“This is expansive, there will be people who don’t like others who are coming and therefore don’t come themselves. That will happen and we expect it.

“There is no blueprint. This is a big tent meeting, it’s an open agenda – we are going to turn on the lights and open the doors and see who comes.

“Yes, it’s a little vague but democracy can sometimes be a little vague and very disordered.

US officials were keen to stress that they were “facilitating” rather then “hosting” the meeting at Tallil airbase close to the 4,000-year-old ziggurat at Ur where, according to the Bible, Abraham was born.

Retired General Jay Garner, sent in by the US to head the interim authority will be there along with representatives from Britain, Australia and Poland.

US officials said there will be a series of meetings before a national gathering or congress.

Main Iraqi opposition groups include the Iraqi National Congress, the Iraqi National Accord, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Islamic Al-Dawa party, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq – who has said it would boycott the meeting and refuse to recognise the temporary US-led administration.

Meanwhile Saddam Hussein’s first wife is believed to have left Iraq, US officials said. Some reports put Sajida Khairallah Telfah in Syria.

The whereabouts and status of other members of Saddam’s immediate family are not known. Nor do officials have definitive word on Saddam or his elder sons, Uday and Qusay, both senior leaders in Saddam’s administration.

Other members of Saddam’s family may have information on their whereabouts, including Saddam’s second wife, three daughters and another son, officials said. All kept low profiles during Saddam’s rule, and none held senior positions.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed concern that recent statements about Syria may further destabilise the Middle East.

“The secretary-general is concerned that recent statements directed at Syria should not contribute to a wider destabilisation in a region already affected heavily by the war in Iraq,” a statement said yesterday.

The brief statement from Mr Annan’s spokesman was issued on a day that US President George W Bush’s administration escalated its rhetoric against Syria, accusing it of harbouring remnants of Saddam Hussein’s government and supporting terrorism.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell raised the possibility of diplomatic and economic sanctions. But US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice indicated the that administration was not contemplating military action.

Tony Blair echoed concerns about Syria harbouring leading members of the Iraqi regime but said Syrian President Bashar Assad assured him over the weekend “that he would interdict anybody who was crossing over the border from Iraq into Syria, and I believe they are doing that”.

“There are no plans whatever to invade Syria,” Mr Blair told the House of Commons.

Syria has denied having chemical weapons.

However troops in Iraq may have discovered dual-use chemical and biological laboratories, US Army General Ben Freakly said.

Eleven 20ft by 20ft metal containers, which could be attached to trailers or railway cars, were found by members of the 101st Airborne in Karbala. About 1,000lb of documents were also found at the site, Gen Freakly told CNN. There was no evidence of weapons.