The Iraqi Governing Council was dissolved yesterday after the appointment of a new interim government that will take over at the end of this month, a member of the outgoing body said.
"The Governing Council dissolved itself today. It no longer exists," said Mahmoud Othman, who has been appointed a minister of state in the new line-up.
Iraqi leaders got their way over US opposition yesterday to have tribal chief Ghazi Yawar appointed president after Washington's choice stepped aside in a face-saving arrangement between occupiers and occupied.
PHOTO: AP
As they met, a massive explosion nearby at the offices of a Kurdish political party just outside the US Green Zone headquarters killed 25 people, police at the scene said.
It was not clear what caused the blast. Widespread violence poses the greatest challenge to the interim government's efforts to organize Iraq's first free elections next year.
After two days of bitter confrontation over the largely ceremonial post, Iraqi Governing Council members said Washington's preferred presidential candidate, elder statesman Adnan Pachachi, had turned down the post minutes after being offered it by the UN in defiance of the Council.
A further test of strength between Washington and the US-appointed Governing Council lies ahead with the imminent announcement of 26 ministers to serve in an interim Cabinet until elections are held next year.
"Pachachi was named, then he turned it down and Yawar was named to the position instead. That's it, and everyone is happy," Council member Rajaa Habib Khuzai said.
UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the man charged by Washington with naming an interim government, and Pachachi, an 81-year-old former foreign minister, were among those to congratulate Yawar, a civil engineer with ties to Saudi Arabia.
"Dr. Adnan Pachachi, who enjoys wide respect and support in Iraq, was offered the presidential position with the support of Sheikh Ghazi, but declined for personal reasons," Brahimi said in a statement confirming Yawar's appointment.
Pachachi told a news conference he had had the support of the majority of the Iraqi people but withdrew because he was opposed by "certain parties."
Reflecting the balance among Iraq's ethnic and religious groups, two vice presidents -- one Shiite Muslim, the other a Kurd -- were appointed to serve under the Sunni Muslim president. Prime Minister-designate Iyad Allawi, appointed on Friday, is from the long-oppressed Shiite majority.
Paul Bremer, the head of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, and Brahimi were also set to announce the names of a Cabinet line-up for the interim government that will take over from the occupation administration on June 30.
The Governing Council has broadly agreed on a list of key Cabinet appointees among themselves but aides to Council members said it now appeared that Brahimi and the US officials might disregard that and appoint a different line-up.
Brahimi was brought in by the US to mediate between Washington and Iraq's various ethnic, religious and political groups. But the Governing Council had sought to push its own candidates on the UN envoy.
The 22-member body, appointed by US officials a year ago, has little clear support among ordinary Iraqis. But its members say they are the legitimate voice of the people following the US invasion that ended Saddam's dictatorship 14 months ago.
US and UN officials have said in the past that the Governing Council did not have the right to make appointments on its own. It caught Brahimi off guard on Friday by announcing the appointment of one of their number, Allawi, to the top job of prime minister. Many of the other nominations from the Council have come from among their own ranks.
Despite Brahimi's suggestion some weeks ago that he would prefer to see an interim government of apolitical technocrats, the Council appears set on naming many of its own members to the new administration that will supersede its role this month.
Both Yawar and Pachachi are Council members from the long dominant Sunni Muslim minority.
The vice presidents are Ibrahim Jaafari, head of the Shiite Dawa party, and Rowsch Shways from the Kurdistan Democratic Party. It was the offices of the rival Kurdistan Patriotic Union that were hit by the Baghdad blast.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS