Wrangling Over President Delays

Juan Cole 05/31/2004

Wrangling over President delays Announcement

Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the WP summarizes the deadlock on the new prime minister among the Iraqi Governing Council, Paul Bremer, and special UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. The Council opposes the naming of Adnan Pachachi as transitional president, because he is perceived as too complaisant toward the US. It wants Shaikh Ghazi al-Yawer of the Sunni Shammar tribe. Al-Hayat said that Bremer had compromised by giving the Council a choice of 4 outsiders.

The US is clearly maneuvering here, to have the Iraqi government that it can deal with after the June 30 transition. Al-Yawer is known to be nationalistic, and was especially vocal about the siege of Fallujah.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page