WASHINGTON, 17 April 2004 — President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair met Friday to showcase their unified position on Iraq.
At a Rose Garden press conference, President Bush signaled support for an interim Iraqi government to take over power in Iraq on June 30, adding, “Coalition forces will remain in Iraq to help the new government succeed.”
Asked who the new government would consist of, both leaders said the plan was under formulation by a UN envoy, and will be “broadly acceptable to the Iraqi people.”
Bush said the turnover would show Iraqis the United States has “no interest in occupation. On that date the Coalition Provisional Authority will cease to exist. But coalition forces will remain in Iraq to help the new government succeed.”
Blair is facing intense political pressure at home over Iraq. Some critics argue that the tough military response by US-led troops to resistance has badly damaged local support for the coalition.
Asked about a claim contained in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward, Bush did not say whether he secretly ordered a war plan drawn up against Iraq less than two months after US forces attacked Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Even as Britain and the United States declared their eternal friendship, Portugal, another ally in the “coalition of the willing”, said it may withdraw its national guard contingent from Iraq if the security situation in the country continued to deteriorate.
The meeting between Blair and Bush came after a surge in casualties, killings and kidnappings of foreigners in Iraq.
Iraqi fighters yesterday clashed with US troops near Kufa as their leader Moqtada Sadr breathed defiance. In the central Sunni town of Fallujah, US commanders for the first time held direct talks with leaders of the besieged city and participants later said there were chances of a permanent cease-fire being agreed in the next couple of days.
Scores of US soldiers and more than 600 Iraqis have been killed in fighting in Fallujah over the past two weeks, after US forces launched a crackdown following the murder of four American contractors on March 31.
Coalition chief policy officer Richard Jones said that as a first concession, US forces would start to reposition troops today to allow vehicular access to the general hospital.
Jones also said the coalition would “resume some kind of dialogue” with Iraqi security forces who could be expected to play a key role in the future governance of Fallujah.
In Kufa, near Najaf, Shiite cleric Sadr said he would not dismantle his Mehdi Army militia under any circumstances. Sadr was delivering the Friday sermon.
The United States has vowed to kill or capture Sadr and destroy his militia. His supporters rose up against occupying forces earlier this month and 2,500 US troops are now poised outside Najaf to move against him. There was no sign military action was imminent.
A doctor said five people were killed in clashes between the militia and foreign troops near Kufa, and witnesses heard loud blasts and saw militiamen running to fight on the town’s outskirts.
— Additional input from Naseer Al-Nahr in Baghdad
