'Sovereign' Iraq will stay under U.S. authority

By Jim Krane
The Associated Press

	SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES Iraqis walk over a homemade American flag as a sign of disrespect Friday in Baghdad. The weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Related stories Iraq Notebook: Militias near deal to disband

But because the fledgling Iraqi government will be capable of tackling little more than drawing up a budget and preparing for elections, top U.S. and Iraqi officials say, most power will reside within the world's largest U.S. Embassy, backed by 110,000 U.S. troops.

"We're still here. We'll be paying a lot of attention and we'll have a lot of influence," a top U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. "We're going to have the world's largest diplomatic mission with a significant amount of political weight."

In just over three months, the mantle of sovereignty in Iraq will be passed to an interim government. Its composition and the manner of its choosing are supposed to be decided after a United Nations team arrives this week, but even that is in question. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, spiritual leader of the majority Shiite Muslims, has told the United Nations he will refuse to meet with the team unless the U.N. disavows the interim constitution approved by the Iraqi Governing Council under U.S. prodding.

That constitution is intended to guide Iraqis until a permanent legislature, to be selected in elections in either December or January, writes a new document.

In any case, the interim government will last a fleeting seven months at most, a butterfly's life in legislative terms. And, since the U.S.-led occupation regime will have a hand in choosing Iraq's next government, the body will lack a mandate for anything but administrative tasks.

Many envision a team of nonpartisan Iraqi technocrats who concentrate on keeping the country functioning.

"We don't expect them to enact any laws unless there is absolute need for them," Iraqi Governing Council member Adnan Pachachi, a strong supporter of the United States, said yesterday.

"We're not going to enter into any big contractual obligations — either diplomatically or economically — because those things should be done by an elected government."

The short-lived government's main work would include passing the 2005 national budget and preparing for elections, the U.S. official said

The U.S. ambassador will hoard a large measure of influence on Iraq, and the fledgling government will wean itself only slowly from U.S. money, troops and advisers, whom Pachachi said will be tutoring Iraq's rulers on governance issues.
 
The American face in Iraq will undergo only a symbolic change, with the ambassador installed in a new chancery building but U.S. affairs still handled in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace.

The ambassador will also have a say in the spending of $8 billion of the massive $18.4 billion U.S. aid package approved by Congress in November, a huge tool with which to influence Iraq's affairs.

Americans "will be heavily involved, so there will be continuous contacts with them," Pachachi said.

Much of the day-to-day governance will be handled by a president or prime minister and the country's 25 ministers, some of whom Pachachi predicted will be holdovers selected by U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer.

Pachachi listed three options being considered by the Governing Council and occupation authorities for the country's interim government, a charged issue after al-Sistani shot down the complex U.S. plan for a system of caucuses earlier this year:

• The existing 25-member Governing Council gains legislative power, but the monthly rotation of the presidency, a setup opposed by al-Sistani, is jettisoned in favor of a president and deputies chosen from among the members.

• The Governing Council is expanded to around 100 members and takes either a parliamentary role or an advisory role, electing a prime minister and president from within its ranks.

• A general national conference is convened under U.N. auspices, and conference members choose a president and ministers and then disband. A variation has the conference retaining legislative or advisory power.

Bremer is also in the midst of appointing inspectors general for Iraq's ministries that, under current rules, can't be replaced by an incoming Iraqi government.

Al-Sistani said the document was unworkable because it establishes a three-person presidential council composed of a Sunni Muslim, a Kurd and a Shiite Muslim whose decisions would have to be unanimous.

"This builds a basis for sectarianism," al-Sistani wrote. "Consensus would not be reached unless there is pressure from a foreign power, or a deadlock would be reached that destabilizes the country and could lead to breakup."

Material from Reuters is included in this report.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company