Baghdad — U.S. administrator Paul Bremer said Thursday that changes are possible in the formula for establishing a new Iraqi government but that the date for the U.S.-led coalition to hand over power remains firm.
"Changes are possible, but the date holds," Mr. Bremer told reporters, adding that there are "dozens" of methods for selecting the government that will assume control. He said U.S. forces will remain in Iraq until Iraqis "are able to assure their own security."
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan backed the U.S. position later Thursday and recommended against holding elections in Iraq before the June 30 transfer of power to Iraqis.
Among the options, Mr. Bremer said, is a redesigned "caucus" system or partial elections.
Mr. Bremer has said he would not allow the U.S.-appointed Governing Council to adopt a basic law or constitution based upon sharia (Islamic law).
While calling for any charter to acknowledge the Islamic nature of Iraq, Mr. Bremer said the law must be based on secular democratic principles.
He said the United States has an obligation, as the sovereign power, to ensure that Iraq becomes "a democratic, unified, stable country at peace with itself."
Mr. Annan made no recommendation on how to form a transitional government.
Mr. Annan said, however, that the June 30 date for the U.S.-led coalition to restore sovereignty to Iraq must be respected.
Mr. Annan and his special adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, spoke to reporters after a 90-minute meeting with representatives of 45 nations and the European Union where Mr. Brahimi gave a briefing on his week-long visit to Iraq.
"We shared with them our sense, and the emerging consensus, or understanding that elections cannot be held before the end of June, that the June 30 date for the hand-over of sovereignty must be respected, and that we need to find a mechanism to create a caretaker government and then prepare the elections later, some time later in the future," Mr. Annan said.
The coalition and the Iraqi Governing Council asked the United Nations to send a team to Iraq to help resolve a disagreement between the U.S. administration and a powerful Shiite spiritual leader on transferring power to Iraqis by the end of June.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani has called for direct elections, arguing that a government based on caucuses would be "illegitimate." The United States has argued that security concerns and lack of preparations make quick elections impossible.
