US: President Mr George Bush declared yesterday that the American goal in Iraq was "a free nation in the hands of a free people," writes North America Editor Conor O'Clery.
"Iraq must be democratic," Mr Bush told workers at a tank plant in Lima, Ohio. "We will not impose a government. We will help that nation form a government of, by, and for the people." Once the US has put Iraq on the road to self-government "then all our forces are going to leave Iraq and come home".
However, the Iraqis will be denied democratic choice if they opt for an Iranian-style theocracy, the US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, said yesterday.
"If you're suggesting how would we feel about an Iranian-type government with a few clerics running everything in the country, the answer is, that isn't going to happen," Mr Rumsfeld said in an interview with Associated Press.
Mr Bush, in Ohio to promote his economic plan, is preparing to make a victory speech announcing the end of the war, possible next week, officials said.
The President almost made the war-ending declaration ahead of schedule yesterday. "Now we have finished a war - in the process of finishing a war - in Iraq," he said, correcting himself.
"Our forces still face danger in Iraq. Our enemy is scattered but they are still capable of doing harm," he said.
"Many Iraqis are now reviving religious rituals which were forbidden by the old regime . . . many Iraqis are now speaking their mind in public," said Mr Bush in an apparent reference to anti-American demonstrations. "That's a good sign."
Alluding to their new-found freedom of speech, he said: "When Saddam was dictator, and you spoke your mind, he would cut out your tongue and leave you to bleed to death in a town square - no kidding."
Mr Bush said the deck of cards identifying regime leaders "seems to be getting complete". Mr Rumsfeld said more of the top 55 have been captured in the past day or so than have been made public.
He also said US and British forces are searching for many more former members of the Saddam Hussein regime than the 55 on a "most wanted" list.
"In fact we have a list of some 200," he said. "That original list was purposely kept low at the outset because we wanted to separate the worst people from the regime, hoping that others would come forward."
On weapons of mass destruction he said: "It's going to take time to find them . . . But we know he had them, and whether he destroyed them, moved them or hid them, we're going to find out the truth. And one thing is for certain, Saddam Hussein no longer threatens America with weapons of mass destruction."
At the United Nations, the Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to extend until June 3rd authority for UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan to send food and medicine to the Iraqi people under the UN oil-for-food programme.
On March 28th, the council authorised Mr Annan to review nearly $16 billion in contracts already approved under the programme and give priority to those that could be used immediately for humanitarian relief.
The council's 15-0 vote will give the UN authority over humanitarian contracts until June 3rd.
Security Council president Mr Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico said he expects discussions in the coming weeks to focus on what should happen next.