Washington, Jan 14: The United States has said it was discussing with Iraqi officials different methods of selecting a transitional assembly, including the possibility of direct elections in certain parts of the country. US officials in Baghdad and Washington ruled out a demand from Iraq's top Shiite leader for nationwide elections, citing the current security situation on the ground and lack of legal infrastructure for such polling.
Instead, as called for by a November agreement to return Iraq to self-rule by July 1, the assembly will be chosen through a regional caucus system that should be set up by mid-March, they said.
Under that deal, the caucuses would be led by organising committees appointed by members of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and local officials.
However, in response to complaints chiefly from Iraq's most influential Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the State Department yesterday said Washington was willing to be flexible on how the caucuses are set up.
"There is discussion on how exactly that assembly would be selected," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. "We are engaged with different parties in Iraq in those discussions.
"There can be discussions with different parties in Iraq about the modalities or the technicalities ... of how caucuses are conducted," he told reporters.
But, Ereli stressed that nothing would be changed in the timetable in the November 15 agreement between the US-led coalition provisional authority and the Iraqi Governing Council to return Iraq to self-rule. Bureau Report