New US administrator arrives in Iraq

IRAQ: The new US administrator for Iraq, Mr L. Paul Bremmer, arrived here yesterday. He is replacing Gen Jay Garner who was appointed to head the post-war relief and reconstruction effort.

Gen Garner is due to leave in two weeks' time, well ahead of the three-month period he said he expected to serve. On Sunday, Ms Barbara Bodine, a former US ambassador to Yemen, sent to oversee the US programme to restore power, water, and security to Baghdad, was recalled to Washington.

Mr Bremmer, a terrorism expert, said his task was to "return their country to the Iraqi people" and create conditions for a prosperous future for the men, women and children of Iraq. He praised the efforts of Gen Garner and his team.

However, Iraqis view the sudden recall of Ms Bodine and the departure of Gen Garner as a sign that the Bush administration is displeased with the handling of the post-war situation.

The US had promised Iraqis a rapid return to normality following the three-week military campaign which toppled the government of former presidentSaddam Hussein. But Iraq is plagued by a political and administrative vacuum.

Armed groups representing various contending factions have seized empty buildings and converted them into political offices. As we drove past a clutch of Kurds with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders, Ms Nuha al-Radi, an Iraqi novelist, remarked, "We now have warlords in Baghdad, just like Afghanistan."

There is no administration. Rubbish rots in the streets. Water is scarce and unsafe. Raw sewage is dumped into the Tigris. Electricity is available from four to 12 hours a day. Iraqis try to get home by 6 p.m. because the streets are dangerous. Armed men roam in trucks and cars shooting at random.

One Iraqi woman said, "We have the freedom to speak but no security. Our children do not dare go out of our homes. We are afraid we will be killed, raped or kidnapped. The war was a mistake. Bring back Saddam."

Mr Bremmer's low-key arrival contrasted dramatically with the spectacular celebrations at the Shia holy city of Najaf, where hundreds of thousands of people turned out to welcome the founder of the Tehran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim, who spent the last 23 years in exile in Iran. He is a highly popular religious figure amongst Iraq's Shia community, 60 per cent of the populace.

It is significant that he decided to stage his return home to Najaf on the eve of the Prophet's birthday, a holiday. His first act at Najaf was to visit the Mosque of Ali, the adopted son of the Prophet Muhammad, who was slain in the struggle over succession with the Orthodox Sunnis which followed the Prophet's death. The Shias, who have been excluded from power in Iraq since the advent of Islam, are now determined to secure their democratic rights as the majority community.

In an effort to avoid a confrontation with the US, the ayatollah has said that he would not take up a political role but would confine himself to religious matters. This is unlikely to reassure Mr Bremmer or the Sunnis, who have dominated the political scene since the seventh century, because Shias obey "fatwas" or religious edicts issued by charismatic clerics like the ayatollah.