Washington, Feb 18: The United States plans to transfer sovereignty to the people of strife-torn Iraq by June 30, Secretary of State Colin Powell has said and made it clear that Washington has an "open mind" on the caucus system to choose the new Iraqi provisional government. "We still believe that 30 June is the appropriate time to have a transition to an interim government of the people of Iraq. We are waiting to get a report from Ambassador (Lakhdar) Brahimi through (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan as to the results of Brahimi's visit to the region, Powell said yesterday at a joint appearance with his Swedish counterpart Leila Freivalds.
On the issue of caucus, he said "The debates goes around the issue of a caucus. Is a caucus still the best way to do it, or can the caucus process be refined or modified in some way, or is there some other procedure that might be used to reflect the will of the Iraqi people as we move forward? And so we're waiting to get the report from the Secretary General before any decisions are made. And I think the Governing Council is also waiting to hear the report of Ambassador Brahimi." "And so we've got an open mind on it, but as Ambassador (Paul) Bremer says, we are still determined to move forward to transfer sovereignty by the 30th of June," Powell said.
"What we're talking about," said Powell, "is an interim government to whom sovereignty will be transferred until such time as you can have a full constitution in place and that you can have a full election, which nobody believes is possible by June." Bureau Report