Iraq: The head of Iraq's US-appointed governing council said yesterday that elections for a new government would take place next year.
Mr Iyad Allawi, the new president of the council under its rotating leadership, replied "definitely 2004" when asked by reporters when elections would be held.
Although it is not spelt out in the new US-sponsored UN resolution, the 2004 election date envisaged by Mr Allawi appears to concur with US intentions. Mr Paul Bremer, the US governor of Iraq, and Secretary of State Colin Powell have said they expect elections then.
President Bush is anxious to alleviate the growing cost of the occupation in US lives and money, and a new UN resolution could encourage other nations to contribute troops and cash.
In Baghdad yesterday, Iraqis crowded banks to swap tattered banknotes for the crisp currency the US-led administration began issuing as part of a drive to banish Saddam's image from Iraq.
Iraqis have three months to turn in four trillion dinars worth of old banknotes in exchange for six new denominations ranging from 50- to 25,000-dinar bills.
One US dollar is worth around 2,000 dinars, with a kilogram of mutton costing around 6,000 and a flatbread 50.
The introduction of the new currency has been one of the biggest undertakings of the US-led authority, struggling to rebuild Iraq against a backdrop of daily attacks on US troops and foreign and Iraqi targets seen as linked to the occupation.
Visiting Baghdad, US Commerce Secretary Mr Don Evans said investors thinking long term would be lured by opportunities in postwar Iraq, and that the current insecurity would pass.
"The currency being rolled out today is a symbol of moving towards a stronger economy, a more reliable economy, a more confident economy," he said. "When I talk to Iraqis ... they're looking beyond these isolated skirmishes".
US and British officials have acknowledged that adoption of the resolution is unlikely to bring large infusions of troops or cash at a donors' conference in Madrid next week.
The amount of money needed from international donors over the next few years is estimated at around $55 billion.