BAGHDAD, 21 May 2003 — The top British civilian in Baghdad, John Sawers, said yesterday that coalition forces did not intend to hand power to an Iraqi government until elections have been held, which he expected to take between one and two years.
The special envoy of Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview he hoped an interim administration could be formed after a national conference in one to two months, but said its role would be to draw up a new constitution for Iraq.
Dashing the hopes of longtime opponents of Saddam Hussein who have returned in the expectation of quickly taking the reins, Sawers said the US-British occupation would continue to control the day-to-day running of Iraq.
“I haven’t talked to any Iraqi who thinks the job can be done better by some ad hoc committee than by the coalition itself,” he said.
