UN confident Iraqi interim government will be formed ahead of power transfer - Brahimi

Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, said today the United Nations was confident an Iraqi caretaker government could be formed ahead of the transfer of power at the end of June to guide the country until free and fair elections are held in January 2005.

"We are confident that it will be possible to form such a government in a timely manner, that is, during the month of May 2004," Mr. Brahimi told a press conference in Baghdad following some 10 days of consultations with a cross-section of Iraqi political leaders and civil society representatives.

He said the transitional government would be "led by a Prime Minister and comprising Iraqi men and women known for their honesty, integrity and competence," and that there would also be a President to act as Head of State and two Vice-Presidents.

According to an agreement reached last November, the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is scheduled to transfer power to an Iraqi government on 30 June and the current 25-member Governing Council will be dissolved. As Mr. Brahimi noted today, some of the Governing Council members are already assuming other responsibilities while other members "will no doubt be called upon to participate in various State institutions."

The UN envoy is scheduled to return to New York in the coming days to brief the Secretary-General and the Security Council before returning to Iraq to hold more consultations. While Mr. Brahimi's recommendations would not be finalized until his return, he outlined a number of preliminary observations and a few tentative ideas.

Mr. Brahimi said the current security situation made it all the more urgent for the political process to continue. "Let me emphasize…the elections scheduled to take place in January 2005 are the most important milestone," he said. "There is no substitute for the legitimacy that comes from free and fair elections."

The UN envoy said he agreed with the suggestion by a number of those he consulted that a large national conference be held to promote national reconciliation and consensus. Such a gathering could be held in July and aim to elect a consultative assembly to serve alongside the caretaker government until the January 2005 elections.

He added that even though the UN electoral team has been able to progress in its work, "it is important and urgent that, on the Iraqi side, the necessary steps are taken, so that elections can take place" in time. "Naturally, the security situation has to improve significantly for these elections to take place in an acceptable environment," he added.

Mr. Brahimi also said many Iraqis had appealed to him regarding the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained without charge. "They should be either charged or released, and their families and lawyers must have access to them," he said, adding that it was "difficult to understand" that thousands of sorely needed Iraqi professionals were dismissed during the de-Baathification process.

"All these are ideas which will be submitted to the Secretary-General and further discussed both during the wide consultations scheduled to be organized by the committee set up for this purpose by the Governing Council and by our own team," he said.

Mr. Brahimi added that he believed that the political framework he outlined for the setting up of the interim government, the organization of a national dialogue conference, combined with a number of confidence-building measures addressing real concerns of the Iraqis, "should, I hope, help this country to move forward towards recovery, peace and stability."