Iraq reels despite new government

BAGHDAD – Another car bomb killed at least four Iraqis in Baghdad while renewed clashes between Shiite Muslim militiamen and US forces left eight dead, setting an ominous backdrop for the new Iraqi government’s first day at work.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi defended the line-up of the new government, which was sworn in Tuesday, but admitted it would face an uphill struggle to earn legitimacy in the wake of its turbulent formation. The latest in a string of car bombs to rock the Iraqi capital killed four Iraqi civilians in a northern Baghdad district, hospital and police sources said.The blasts struck the mainly Sunni Muslim area of Adhamiyah killing at least four and wounding about 34 others, said Doctor Abdullah Saheb at Al-Numan hospital.Women were seen screaming and wailing at the hospital as ambulances ferried the wounded to the emergency department.Iraqi police Lieutenant Mohammed Abdelaziz said there were at least five children among the injured.The blast came as a two-month-old conflict between members of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr’s militia and US forces raged on in Iraq’s Shiite heartland.Five Iraqis were killed in Kufa, one in its twin city of Najaf and two in the Baghdad Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City, medical sources and officials from Sadr’s office said.The latest spate of deadly violence marked the collapse of an attempt to impose a 72-hour truce announced Tuesday by the Najaf governor.Security will be the main challenge of the new cabinet, responsible for paving the way to free elections next year when Iraq receives sovereignty from the US-led coalition on June 30.Prime minister Iyad Allawi, who is a former Baath dissident and had close ties with the US Central Intelligence Agency during his years in exile, was chosen partly for his security credentials.A new draft of a UN resolution due to spell out the level of sovereignty which his government will enjoy was put together by the United States and Britain.The document, which has yet to be examined by interim foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari and approved by other UN Security Council members, would give the Iraqi government control over the army and the police.It also offers a rough date for the departure of coalition troops, saying the occupation’s mandate would expire “upon completion of the political process” to create a constitutionally elected Iraqi government.The country’s first free elections are due in January 2005 but a constitution could be passed as late as 2006.The US-backed Allawi hailed the nomination of the new government as an historic step towards sovereignty, but showed no sign of rushing to ease the coalition out of Iraq and stressed their assistance was much needed.”We Iraqis are just like the rest of the peoples in the world.We don’t want our country to remain under occupation,” he said but then went on to stress that Baghdad would still rely heavily on the US-led coalition.- Nampa-AFPThe latest in a string of car bombs to rock the Iraqi capital killed four Iraqi civilians in a northern Baghdad district, hospital and police sources said.The blasts struck the mainly Sunni Muslim area of Adhamiyah killing at least four and wounding about 34 others, said Doctor Abdullah Saheb at Al-Numan hospital.Women were seen screaming and wailing at the hospital as ambulances ferried the wounded to the emergency department.Iraqi police Lieutenant Mohammed Abdelaziz said there were at least five children among the injured.The blast came as a two-month-old conflict between members of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr’s militia and US forces raged on in Iraq’s Shiite heartland.Five Iraqis were killed in Kufa, one in its twin city of Najaf and two in the Baghdad Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City, medical sources and officials from Sadr’s office said.The latest spate of deadly violence marked the collapse of an attempt to impose a 72-hour truce announced Tuesday by the Najaf governor.Security will be the main challenge of the new cabinet, responsible for paving the way to free elections next year when Iraq receives sovereignty from the US-led coalition on June 30.Prime minister Iyad Allawi, who is a former Baath dissident and had close ties with the US Central Intelligence Agency during his years in exile, was chosen partly for his security credentials.A new draft of a UN resolution due to spell out the level of sovereignty which his government will enjoy was put together by the United States and Britain.The document, which has yet to be examined by interim foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari and approved by other UN Security Council members, would give the Iraqi government control over the army and the police.It also offers a rough date for the departure of coalition troops, saying the occupation’s mandate would expire “upon completion of the political process” to create a constitutionally elected Iraqi government.The country’s first free elections are due in January 2005 but a constitution could be passed as late as 2006.The US-backed Allawi hailed the nomination of the new government as an historic step towards sovereignty, but showed no sign of rushing to ease the coalition out of Iraq and stressed their assistance was much needed.”We Iraqis are just like the rest of the peoples in the world.We don’t want our country to remain under occupation,” he said but then went on to stress that Baghdad would still rely heavily on the US-led coalition.- Nampa-AFP