Amid snipers and bombs, Iraq's new cabinet jokes

1.00pm

BAGHDAD - Snipers were positioned on roofs and helicopters hovered after another bomb exploded nearby.

But Iraq's new ministers joked in front of the television cameras on Tuesday in a ceremony that would have been unthinkable during decades of dictatorship.

When the electricity minister proudly stood up as the country's cabinet was introduced, someone in the audience asked "where is the electricity?"

The comment drew laughter from a cabinet faced with bombings, mortar attacks, power shortages and ethnic tensions as it leads Iraq to 2005 and its first election after 24 years of rule under Saddam Hussein.

Iraq's new government and its president, Ghazi al-Yawar, a tribal leader who replaces Saddam, enjoyed a carefully choreographed day full of promises and symbolism ahead of a United States handover of power on June 30.

US administrator Paul Bremer, the American military commander in Iraq Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, diplomats and relatives gave the leaders a standing ovation in a tacky concrete building that once stored Saddam's presents.

The heavily-guarded complex is now being prepared to house a special tribunal created to try Saddam on charges of ordering the torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

A car bomb that tore through the nearby offices of a Kurdish political party, killing and wounding several people, reminded the country's new leaders that bloodshed blamed partly on Saddam loyalists is still raging.

Several rockets also landed around the main US compound as officials were meeting, wounding one Iraqi. And a suicide car bomber killed 11 Iraqis outside a US base north of Baghdad.

During the ceremony journalists looked at each other when they heard three blasts, wondering if insurgents were trying to ruin the day for Iraqi leaders after they were chosen through tough negotiations.

The politicians appeared not to notice the explosions.

Iraqis who lived in exile for many years or were forced to keep quiet during Saddam's brutal rule seemed content to live for the moment despite another day of violence.

After speeches vowing to overcome guerrilla attacks that have killed thousands of people, including two senior Iraqi politicians, new officials made their way past bodyguards with high-powered rifles and embraced.

Then a new type of reality intruded.

A pack of journalists bombarded one of Iraq's two vice presidents and a minister with questions on how they would tighten security and improve the economy on streets where they are seen as having been handpicked by the Americans.

While having little against the individuals picked to form the cabinet, many Iraqis scoffed at the idea they would really be in charge.

"This is a government that has just come in for six months to create the right conditions for the Americans to stay here," Samir, a translator in Baghdad said.

"The new government is the same design as the old; the Americans chose them both," Mehdi Dawood al-Izba, who runs a taxi company from Baghdad said. "But Yawar is a good Iraqi and that is better than the occupation at least."

In his first speech since becoming president, Yawar called for the UN to give Iraq "full sovereignty" when the US-led occupation authority is wound up on June 30.

Yawar, whose tribe includes more than a million Sunni and Shi'ite Iraqis, also pledged to work for a unified and federal Iraq. But many Iraqis have grown weary of exiles returning to take positions of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

"I can't say anything about Yawar because I haven't ever really heard of him -- he hasn't been involved in politics in recent years, and he was chosen, not elected," Ahmed Ali, a merchant in the southern city of Basra said.

"But what I will say is that he must understand that he is in power only for six months and he must use that time for the whole of the nation, the whole of Iraq, not just for himself."

Near the Western border with Syria, Shamar tribesmen celebrated by singing, dancing and firing their AK-47 rifles into the air. In the Sunni heartland north of Baghdad, people also welcomed his nomination.

"He's a man with a good reputation, I only hope that he doesn't make his tribe powerful and favoured like Saddam did with his tribe in the past," Haider Abdul Hamid, a 22-year-old student in Basra said.

Others said they had given up watching the news for the latest developments, focusing more on day-to-day difficulties and a persistent insurgency against the US occupiers.

"Whether he is any good or not, he is not going to be there for long," Anwar Mohammed Saeed, 70, a carpenter in Baghdad said. "We just want someone who will bring us peace and stability in the end."

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan backed the new leaders but acknowledged that the "process wasn't perfect."

The United Nations and the United States are putting a brave face on the process after it emerged the new leaders were selected by the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council with apparently minimum input from UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who had been consulting a wide range of individuals and groups outside of the council.

The council, which has dissolved itself, selected a Sunni Muslim tribal leader, Ghazi al-Yawar to the largely ceremonial post as president after last week deciding on Shi'ite Iyad Allawi as prime minister.

UN sources had said earlier most of the names had been on Brahimi's list, but not necessarily his short list.

"I think I should add my voice to the those who are welcoming the Iraqi people for designating a new government," Annan told reporters on arrival at UN headquarters. "I think this is a new beginning. It is not an end. There is lots of hard work ahead."

But Annan said, "I think we all have to recognize that the process wasn't perfect and it was difficult environment and I think given the circumstances, I believe Mr Brahimi did as best as he could."

"I think it would be wrong to say that the UN has allowed itself to be used," he added in answer to questions.

Annan, who said he had spoken to US President George W Bush about the events in Baghdad on Tuesday, said the United Nations had never intended to impose a government on Iraqis.

He said the fact that the 36-member government includes six women was "quite a step forward" and played down the fact that key members had been chosen from the Governing Council, selected last year by the United States.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq