IRAQ: OPPOSITION LEADERS ARE CONTINUING MEETINGS WITH U.S. OFFICIALS TO SET UP AN INTERIM LEADERSHIP FOR IRAQ
Record ID:
648307
IRAQ: OPPOSITION LEADERS ARE CONTINUING MEETINGS WITH U.S. OFFICIALS TO SET UP AN INTERIM LEADERSHIP FOR IRAQ
- Title: IRAQ: OPPOSITION LEADERS ARE CONTINUING MEETINGS WITH U.S. OFFICIALS TO SET UP AN INTERIM LEADERSHIP FOR IRAQ
- Date: 8th May 2003
- Summary: (U7) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MAY 8, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV EXTERIOR BUILDING WHERE MEETING TAKING PLACE 0.03 2. SV U.S. INTERIM ADMINISTRATOR JAY GARNER WALKING WITH HUSHIAR ZIBARY, SPOKESMAN FOR KURDISH DEMOCRATIC PARTY (KDP) (BLUE SHIRT) 0.07 3. SLV GARNER STANDING WITH ZIBARY 0.10 4. SV GARNER AND ZIBARY GREETING OTHER MILITARY LEADERS/ WALK INSIDE TOGETHER 0.14 5. SV PRESS OUTSIDE 0.17 6. SLV INTERIOR TALKS 0.20 7. SLV GARNER AND U.S. OFFICIALS SITTING AT TABLE 0.24 8. SV PRESS/ PAN TO WIDE OF TALKS 0.32 9. MCU GARNER AT TALKS 0.35 10. PAN SECURITY GUARDS 0.41 11. SV HEAD OF IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS AND U.S. AHMAD CHALABI ARRIVING 0.49 12. SV SECURITY 0.54 13. MCU (English) HEAD OF IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS AND U.S. AHMAD CHALABI "We had a useful and successful meeting of the leadership. We agreed to form a security committee to cooperate with coalition forces, provide a larger measure of security for the people in Iraq. We discussed the expansion of the leadership and we agreed to expand it to include to more members. We also discussed procedures for the formation of a provisional government and also for the selection of a provisional national assembly with all the political forces and giving weight, major weight, to the Iraqi people who stayed behind and getting representatives from the provinces." 1.39 14. SV MEDIA 1.42 15. SV GARNER AND ZIBARY WALKING DOWNS/ (English) GARNER: "Really quickly let me just say we had a very good meeting tonight, we discussed the process of the raising of democracy in Kurdistan, I'm quire sure that's going to happen. There are many good things happening now. And I think every day gets just a little bit better. Thank you very much / WALKS OFF/ (Question. Do you have a timetable established?) I've never had a timetable established"/GARNER WALKS OFF 2.19 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 23rd May 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA49T6VOALJRMXCG9YRSXYSF3RJ
- Story Text: Opposition leaders are continuing meetings with U.S.
officials to set up an interim leadership for Iraq.
A grouping of five leading Iraqi political parties agreed
on Thursday (May 8) to expand by including two more parties
and to step up security coordination with U.S.-led forces
struggling to end weeks of lawlessness.
Leaders from the groups who returned from exile after
Saddam Hussein fell met U.S. administrator Jay Garner and top
political and military aides in Baghdad and said they would
push ahead with a national conference to form an interim
government by late May.
The grouping is set to play a key role in shaping the
future of a post-Saddam Iraq.
"We agreed to form a security committee to cooperate with
coalition forces to provide a larger measure of security for
the people of Iraq," Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi
National Congress, told reporters after the meeting.
He said representatives of two other groups, a liberal
democrat party and the al-Daawa Shi'ite Muslim party, were
admitted to its five-member leadership council.
"We also discussed procedures for the formation of a
provisional government and also for selection of a provisional
national assembly with all the political forces," Chalabi
said, adding that Iraqis who had remained under Saddam's rule
would have a "heavyweight" representation at the two bodies.
Divisions between Iraqi politicians who were in exile and
those who had stayed behind on how Iraq should be run after
the U.S.-led war emerged during a conference in Baghdad last
month.
Garner described Thursday's meeting as "very good" and
said it dealt with the process of how to promote democracy.
Asked if he had a schedule for restoring democracy, he
said: "I've never had a timetable established."
The meeting, held under tight security provided by U.S.
forces and Kurdish guerrillas, was attended by senior
officials from several groups, including an Iran-based group
and the two main Kurdish parties.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None