Baghdad, 5 May 2003 (RFE/RL) - The U.S. civil administrator of Iraq, Jay Garner, said today that a collective interim leadership should be set up in Iraq by the middle of May. Garner, the former U.S. general who is in charge of postwar reconstruction in Iraq, said that by mid-month, there will be the "beginning of a nucleus of an Iraqi government".
Garner said he expected up to nine Iraqis to form an interim leadership group that would be a point of contact for the Americans. The group would consist of some returned exiles and some local Iraqis, representing Iraq's ethnic and religious spectrum.
Garner said he expected up to nine Iraqis to form an interim leadership group that would be a point of contact for the Americans. The group would consist of some returned exiles and some local Iraqis, representing Iraq's ethnic and religious spectrum.