Iraqi governing council picks first leader

By HUDA MAJEED SALEH

BAGHDAD - Iraq's US-backed Governing Council named a Shi'ite politician as its first leader on Wednesday, after adopting a rotating presidency which will give representatives of all major groups a turn at being in charge.

Ibrahim Jaafari, a medical doctor who is the spokesman of the Shi'ite Da'wa party, was chosen as the first president of the self-rule body at a meeting on Wednesday.

After more than two weeks of laborious discussion, the Governing Council of 25 Iraqis decided on Tuesday that nine of its members -- drawn from various religious, ethnic and political factions -- would take turns at being president.

The others are Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq; Kurdish leaders Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani; Iraqi National Congress head Ahmed Chalabi; Iyad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord; Muhsin Abdul Hameed of the Iraqi Islamic Party; Shi'ite scholar Muhammed Bahr al-Uloum, and former Foreign Minister Adnan Pachachi.

Hakim said on Wednesday the choice of a rotating presidency -- and the length of time it took to reach the decision -- were not indications of division in the council.

"There are no disputes over this issue. It is a reasonable and logical decision," he said.

The United States has hailed the council, which first met on July 13, as Iraq's first step towards democracy since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in April.

Although it has some limited powers, final control of Iraq still rests with US civilian administrator Paul Bremer.

Choosing a leader was one of the first tasks of the council, which is also supposed to name ministers, approve next year's budget and decide policy on economic reform and electoral laws.

Hakim said he hoped it would not take long to work out a permanent constitution and hold a referendum to approve it ahead of elections for a fully sovereign Iraqi government that could take over from the widely resented US-led occupation.

"We hope that the transitional period will be as short as possible because we do not want the occupation and we want to achieve Iraq's independence as soon as possible," Hakim said.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq