New Iraqi governig council holding first meeting

The first post-Saddam Hussein governing body of Iraqis will hold its inaugural meeting today, a watershed event on the nation’s path to democracy, said the top US administrator, promising the council will have “real political power”.

Iraqi political leaders and the US-led provisional government were in the final stages of setting up the political body, according to diplomats and negotiators, who expected the formal announcement of the council’s make-up as soon as today.