Iraq sovereignty: links and information

On June 28, 2004, the Iraq Interim Government took over administrative power from the Coalition Provisional Authority set up by the US-led occupation force. It was due to take over on June 30 but made a surprise swap two days early to forestall guerrilla attacks.

Iraq formally returned to self-rule two days early

US Embassy Baghdad

Coalition Provisional Authority (dissolved)

List of Iraq Interim Government

Remarks by US president George W Bush on Iraqi interim government

Countdown to the handover

Iraq war: links and information


KEY PLAYERS

Iraq Prime Minister Iyad Allawi

Allawi named Iraqi prime minister in surprise move

Iraq President Ghazi Yawar

Iraqi council wins tussle with US over president


COUNTDOWN TO JUNE 30

June 25: 5 days to the handover

The Bush Administration plans to extend immunity from prosecution for United States troops in Iraq beyond the handover of power on June 30, the Washington Post reported. In a step that would bypass the most contentious remaining issue before power is transferred to Iraq's interim government, US administrator Paul Bremer was expected to renew an immunity order that has been in place throughout the occupation, it said.

President George W. Bush is under pressure from Republican allies to have Saddam Hussein put on trial swiftly. Putting a spotlight on Saddam's record of execution and torture could help shore up public support for the invasion damaged by a United States prison abuse scandal, said Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who is lobbying to hasten Saddam's trial to as early as August.

A Jordanian lawyer who claims to represent Saddam said yesterday he greatly admired the fallen Iraqi dictator. "I love Saddam Hussein," said Mohammed Rashdan, the head of a team of 20 Arab and foreign lawyers appointed by Saddam's wife Sajidah. "He was a firm President, a fair President. I supported many of his political policies," he told the Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya.

June 24: 6 days to the handover

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein says his spirit and morale are high and asks relatives to "say hello to everyone" in the only message he has sent to his family since his capture last December, Newsweek magazine reported. The message, addressed "to my daughter", was delivered to Saddam's eldest daughter in Amman, Jordan, after Red Cross representatives visited him in February.

The United States will transfer legal custody of Saddam and other top prisoners to Iraqi authorities - giving access to Iraqi prosecutors and defence lawyers - as soon as Iraqi courts issue the necessary warrants. But US forces won't let go of Saddam, even after Iraq regains its sovereignty, because Iraq doesn't yet have a prison strong enough to hold the ex-dictator, a US official said.

A car bomb exploded near a hospital in central Baghdad last night. There was no word on casualties. Anti-US insurgents have intensified a campaign of bombings, assassinations and attacks on oil infrastructure ahead of the transition to Iraqi rule.

June 23: 7 days to the handover

South Korea is asking for co-operation from around the world to help free a hostage threatened with beheading in Iraq. But it does not know for sure he is alive, says its Foreign Ministry. A task force set up to tackle the crisis met yesterday and the National Security Council that advises President Roh Moo-hyun was scheduled to meet later. A group Washington accuses of links to al Qaeda set a deadline when Kim Sun-il, 33, was shown pleading for his life in a videotape on the Al Jazeera Arabic television station. The deadline passed yesterday with no news of his fate.

In Ramadi, west of Fallujah, four US soldiers were killed by guerrillas yesterday, but details of their deaths were sketchy. A roadside bomb and gun attack on a convoy near Mosul killed five Iraqis and wounded four, the US Army said. Witnesses said the Iraqis worked for a security company.

Sabotage last week halted all oil exports, but officials said they resumed yesterday after repairs to one of two pipelines blown up in southern Iraq.

Three soldiers charged with abuses at Abu Ghraib jail faced initial hearings in Baghdad yesterday, reviving images of sexual and physical humiliation that sparked worldwide outrage.

June 22: 8 days to the handover

Three US soldiers charged with abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib face initial hearings in Baghdad today. The hearing aims to resolve any outstanding legal issues ahead of the start of the court martial of the trio - Specialist Charles Graner, Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick and Sergeant Javal Davis.

Engineers have finished repairing one of two sabotaged oil pipelines in southern Iraq and officials expect partial exports to resume today. The saboteurs blew holes last week in the 107cm pipeline and another 122cm pipeline, bringing all of Iraq's Basra light oil exports to a halt.

Iraq's Prime Minister yesterday defended a United States air strike that killed 22 people in Fallujah, but Iraqi officers in the town said the dead included women and children rather than foreign Muslim militants. "We know that a house which had been used by terrorists had been hit. We welcome this hit on terrorists anywhere in Iraq," said interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

June 21: 9 days to the handover

A car bomb was intercepted just 800m from the main British base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. British sappers carried out a controlled explosion of the vehicle, causing some damage to the nearby school of medicine but no casualties. "The British troops gave chase but failed to catch the driver after he fled the vehicle," said police officer Walid Issa.

A roadside bomb killed at least two people in southern Iraq, including one Iraqi policeman and a Portuguese security expert. The bomb exploded as the two were driving on a road from Basra to nearby Zubayr, farther to the south. The Portuguese man was a security officer for the state-run Oil Products Co.

A 3-month old Iraqi baby has died only days after photographs of his emaciated and suffering body prompted an outpouring of sympathy around the world. Ali Mohammed Jabbar, known as Baby Ali, died of septicaemia, a bacterial blood infection that would have been easily treated if more advanced medical care was available, said Dr Haidar Hadi of Baghdad's children's hospital. Iraq's children still lack proper medical care after more than a year of US military occupation.

An assassin killed a city councillor from the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit in a drive-by shooting. Azzedine al-Bayati was shot as he travelled from Tuz Khurmatu to Tikrit. Public officials are seen as being collaborators with the Americans.

June 18: 12 days to the handover

A car slammed into a crowd and exploded last night outside a Baghdad recruiting station for the Iraqi Army, killing 35 people and wounding 138 as volunteers queued to join up. At least 10 vehicles were damaged when the car, packed with explosives, detonated, shattering windows and scattering glass across the street.

US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the Iraq war, has begun talks with Iraq's interim leaders. Coalition officials say about 60 per cent of the Iraqi government has been transferred to Iraqi control.

President George W. Bush gave a pep talk yesterday to American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, claiming steady progress was being made towards democracy in both countries. "The future of a free Iraq is now coming into view," Bush said in a message broadcast by satellite. "A democratic free Iraq is on the way." Bush said he understood the hardships that had strained morale among some soldiers.

June 17: 13 days to the handover

As the handover to Iraqi control nears, US and Iraqi officials are trying to resolve the problem of how to deal with thousands of detainees held by US-led forces in Iraq.

In London, a British Foreign Office source said "furious negotiations" were under way to thrash out a solution.

President George W. Bush said the US would give ousted leader Saddam Hussein to the new interim Government when security was adequate to ensure he stands trial.

Bush would not commit to doing so by June 30.

In Washington, the Pentagon said General George Casey, No. 2 officer in the Army, had been nominated to become the top US commander in Iraq, replacing Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez.

In Baghdad, gunmen fired on a three-vehicle convoy carrying contractors working for the US-led administration, hitting at least one car.

A group headed by suspected al Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for a suicide car-bombing in Baghdad on Monday that killed 13 people, five of them foreign contractors.