BAGHDAD, 13 July 2003 — Iraq’s first representative body since Saddam Hussein fell from power was preparing for its inaugural meeting as attacks on US troops continued more than two months since the end of the war.
In Washington, as the CIA took the rap for US President George W. Bush’s erroneous claim that Iraq sought nuclear arms from Africa, Democrats turned up the heat, demanding a full-scale probe into prewar intelligence claims.
Today’s landmark meeting of the new transitory governing council in Baghdad has been declared a major step by coalition forces desperate to restore order and placate Iraqi citizens seething at the slow pace of US-led efforts to restore basic services and security and introduce a democratic government.
The unelected council, with 25 members reflecting the make-up of Iraqi society, is charged with mapping Iraq’s path toward elections — and is meeting almost 35 years to the day since Saddam’s Baath Party came to power. But on the ground, sporadic attacks on US troops continued. Two people were arrested after a blast rocked the Abu Gharib prison, west of Baghdad, leaving one US soldier slightly wounded yesterday.
The credibility of the governing council is considered crucial to coalition efforts to rebuild Iraq. Its success will also be vital if Bush is to reverse plummeting US public support as the majority find the number of US casualties in Iraq “unacceptable”, according to a new poll yesterday.
Democrats demanded an independent investigation into whether the Bush administration misled the public over the Iraqi threat before the war.
In a surprise statement, Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet took responsibility for Bush’s erroneous claim in a Jan. 28 speech to Congress that Iraq was trying to procure nuclear material from Africa.
Bush had said the British government knew Saddam had sought to buy uranium from Africa. “These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president,” Tenet said.
