Iraqis condemn 'meddling' US in presidential row

Iraqi Governing Council members accused American officials of pressuring them to accept Washington’s choice for the country’s new president, delaying the announcement of a new government to take power on June 30.

United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi had hoped to complete the selection of the 26-member Cabinet by yesterday. But a governing council session that was to have chosen a president was postponed until at least today, with sharp differences remaining between the council and the coalition over the largely ceremonial head-of-state job.

Most council members favour civil engineer Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, 45, the current council president, over the Americans’ apparent choice, former foreign minister Adnan Pachachi, 81. Both are Sunni Muslims.

Two council members said other candidates might be put forward to break the deadlock.

Meanwhile, in what US authorities called an effort to prevent the handover of power, rebels detonated a car bomb near coalition headquarters yesterday, killing four people and wounding 25. Four American soldiers were reported to have been killed in other attacks.

The US-run coalition maintains ultimate authority in Iraq, but the Americans must decide whether they want to risk a major breach with their Iraqi allies at a sensitive period as Washington prepares to hand control of a still-unstable, war-ravaged country to an untested leadership.

Coalition spokesman Dan Senor insisted the Americans had not shown a preference for Pachachi, a claim that many council members dismissed as untrue.

“We in the council have agreed that Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawer should be the president of Iraq,” council member and prominent Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani told Al-Arabiya television.

“But if the coalition has a different opinion, then they must come and explain to the council. There is a near consensus in the council that Sheikh Ghazi is the better-suited man for the job.”

Asked what the council would do if the Americans refused to budge, Talabani said he had great respect for Pachachi ”but we will not accept an imposition”.

Although most Cabinet posts have been filled, no agreement can be announced until a decision on the presidency. The new government will serve until national elections by January 31.

President George Bush, facing election in November, will want to ensure that Iraqi politicians who take power next month support American goals in Iraq.

With more than 800 US military dead since the Iraq war began in March 2003, Washington is eager to see a government that can tackle the security crisis, including a year-old Sunni revolt in Baghdad and areas north and west of the capital and a Shiite uprising to the south.

The next Iraqi government must negotiate the legal basis under which the 135,000 American troops and other coalition forces will remain there under a sovereign Iraqi government.

Council sources said that the Americans warned that if the members went ahead and voted for al-Yawer, the United States might not recognise the choice.

The coalition-backed Baghdad daily Al-Sabah reported yesterday that al-Yawer had turned down a request by Iraq’s US governor Paul Bremer to take himself out of the running. Al-Yawer insisted that the selection must be made by the council, the newspaper said.