Council dithers on new president

Iraq’s American-backed Governing Council wrapped up its first week in existence, failing to choose a president and instead opting for a...

Iraq’s American-backed Governing Council wrapped up its first week in existence, failing to choose a president and instead opting for a weak, three-man rotating leadership.

The Council, shepherded into existence by L. Paul Bremer, the US administrator for Iraq, was announced last Sunday, saying its first order of business was the election of a president. But when that didn’t happen after six days in session, officials of the Iraqi government said that it would share the leadership job among at least three of 25 members.

BBC admits Kelly was ‘principal’ source; family pans both sides

LONDON: Two days after David Kelly was found dead, the BBC on Sunday said the government scientist was the principal source for its controversial report claiming Downing Street had ‘‘sexed up’’ an Iraq weapons dossier, which was used to justify the US-led war on Iraq. In a statement, director of news Richard Sambrook said the BBC had, until now, owed Dr Kelly a duty of confidentiality and was ‘‘profoundly sorry’’ that his involvement as the source for the reports had ended in tragedy.

Story continues below this ad

Kelly’s grieving family on Saturday night appeared to blame the government and the BBC for the events leading up to his death. In their first comments after identifying the body of Kelly, the family said the actions of all parties involved in the affair had driven him to suicide. Kelly is survived by his wife Janice and three daughters.

Blair’s ally hits out at BBC after death

LONDON: Former British Minister and one of PM Tony Blair’s closest allies Peter Mandelson today launched a scathing attack on BBC, saying David Kelly’s death is a fall out of the Corporation’s ‘‘obsession’’ with exposing Blair’s communications chief Alistair Campbell. In an emotionally-charged commentary published today in The Observer, Mandelson wrote, ‘‘it was the BBC’s obsession that led more than anything to the breakdown in relations between the government and Britain’s principal broadcaster, with the result we have seen.’’ (Agencies)

A Western diplomat who works closely with the Council said the decision to establish a rotating presidency did not reflect political divisions among the governing body, who, he said, were cooperating well despite their religious and ethnic differences.

Meanwhile, the number of American soldiers killed in action since the March 20 start of the war increased to 151, four more than the total killed in the 1991 Gulf War.

On Sunday, two soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division were killed and another was injured when their convoy came under rocket-propelled grenade and fire in northern Iraq, the US military said.

Story continues below this ad

All three of the soldiers in the northern attack were rushed to a nearby military hospital, where two of them died, said Corp. Todd Pruden, a spokesman for the military in Baghdad. The attack occurred near Tal Afar, just west of Mosul and about 240 miles northwest of Baghdad, Corp. Pruden said. There were no reported enemy casualties and no arrests were made.

Most of the recent violence has occurred in an area north and west of Baghdad called the Sunni triangle, where some support for Saddam Hussein remains. Mosul is north of the Sunni triangle and has not been the site of much previous violence.

Also Sunday, an official for the UN said a convoy carrying members of the world body to Hilla came under fire. It was not clear if there were any casualties, the official said on condition of anonymity. A US soldier was killed in the early hours of Saturday while guarding a bank in west Baghdad, and another American serviceman died on Friday.

Meanwhile, about 4,000 Shiite Muslims marched on the US headquarters in Najaf to protest America’s presence in the holy city, and voice support for hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr.

Story continues below this ad

In his Friday sermon, the cleric said he was recruiting for a private army but fell short of calling for armed struggle against the US occupation.