The most influential Iraqi Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, hardened his opposition to US plans for a transitional
government as British Prime Minister Tony Blair suggested Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction might never be found.
"In a land mass twice the size of the UK it may well not be surprising you don't find where this stuff is hidden," Blair said.
"You can't be definitive at the moment about what has happened".
Asked if he had been wrong in highlighting the weapons threat, cited as the main justification for the US-led war, Blair told BBC television: "You can't say that at this point in time.
"What you can say is that we received that intelligence about Saddam's programmes and about his weapons, that we acted on that".
A poll showed that half of British voters believe Blair lied over the outing of David Kelly, a government weapons expert who killed himself last year after being exposed as the source of allegations that the prime minister's office "sexed up" intelligence on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.
Blair's comments came as former US treasury secretary Paul O'Neill told Time magazine that he was not aware of any intelligence definitively showing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
"In the 23 months I was there, I never saw anything that I would characterise as evidence of weapons of mass destruction," O'Neil said.
US President George W Bush fired O'Neill in December 2002.
Meanwhile, in a blow to US plans, Ayatollah Sistani rejected a fresh entreaty by the Governing Council to endorse US plans to set up a provisional government without elections, upping the stakes as Iraq moves toward sovereignty in six months.
The senior cleric, revered by most of Iraq's 15-million Shiite majority, had previously said he would be willing to have a UN delegation decide whether it was feasible to conduct elections in Iraq's current volatile atmosphere.
UN chief Kofi Annan is due to hold talks with leaders of the Governing Council on January 19 on the United Nations role in Iraq.
But yesterday, Sistani seemed to rule out any compromise as he declared there was no reason not to hold polls now after meeting with a Governing Council delegation currently headed by Adnan Pachachi.
"Experts think it is possible to organise fair and transparent elections in the coming months," said a statement from Sistani's office.
Without an elected government, Sistani said he did not believe Washington had the right to negotiate a security agreement allowing US troops to stay in Iraq or to pass a fundamental law to govern the country in the coming transitional period.
Both documents "must be submitted to elected representatives of the people in order to have legitimacy".
Sistani warned Washington's current blueprint for Iraq's road to self-rule "would create numerous problems" in a country already gripped by a nine-month old insurgency.
The US-led coalition has ruled out early general elections on the grounds that Iraq's security situation is not stable and a national census still needs to be conducted.
Hundreds of demonstrators pelted British soldiers with rocks in the southern city of Amara, about 350 km southeast of Baghdad, the day after clashes left six dead when British troops and Iraqi police opened fire on grenade-throwers who infiltrated a protest by 500 jobless men.
Club-wielding British soldiers guarding the city hall charged the stone-throwing demonstrators who then fled.
No one was wounded.
Protestors distributed a tract demanding the coalition arrest the men who opened fire on Saturday's demonstration and called for Amara to choose a new governor.
Unemployment is a major problem in Iraq, with some putting the jobless rate at 50% of the population. US military officials have identified the woeful economy situation as a major security concern and a key to restoring stability.
Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi announced yesterday the final guidelines for de-Baathification in the public sector as Iraq's fledgling lawmakers took on more power from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
Chalabi, who enjoys a reputation as a vehement anti-Baathist, sounded a hard line, even as the CPA promoted reconciliation for those who did not commit serious crimes under Saddam.
"Reconciliation is an inappropriate term. Who will reconcile with whom? Will those buried in mass graves reconcile with those who killed them?" he asked.
The new guidelines reiterate that full members of the Baath party holding the ranks of regional command member, branch member, section member and group member will be dismissed from any government position.
They also ban full Baath party members from the three top posts at ministries or government institutions.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz stressed the kingdom's support for Iraq's unity during a meeting here yesterday with an Iraqi delegation, the Iraqi delegation leader said. – Sapa-AFP.
"In a land mass twice the size of the UK it may well not be surprising you don't find where this stuff is hidden," Blair said.
"You can't be definitive at the moment about what has happened".
Asked if he had been wrong in highlighting the weapons threat, cited as the main justification for the US-led war, Blair told BBC television: "You can't say that at this point in time.
"What you can say is that we received that intelligence about Saddam's programmes and about his weapons, that we acted on that".
A poll showed that half of British voters believe Blair lied over the outing of David Kelly, a government weapons expert who killed himself last year after being exposed as the source of allegations that the prime minister's office "sexed up" intelligence on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.
Blair's comments came as former US treasury secretary Paul O'Neill told Time magazine that he was not aware of any intelligence definitively showing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
"In the 23 months I was there, I never saw anything that I would characterise as evidence of weapons of mass destruction," O'Neil said.
US President George W Bush fired O'Neill in December 2002.
Meanwhile, in a blow to US plans, Ayatollah Sistani rejected a fresh entreaty by the Governing Council to endorse US plans to set up a provisional government without elections, upping the stakes as Iraq moves toward sovereignty in six months.
The senior cleric, revered by most of Iraq's 15-million Shiite majority, had previously said he would be willing to have a UN delegation decide whether it was feasible to conduct elections in Iraq's current volatile atmosphere.
UN chief Kofi Annan is due to hold talks with leaders of the Governing Council on January 19 on the United Nations role in Iraq.
But yesterday, Sistani seemed to rule out any compromise as he declared there was no reason not to hold polls now after meeting with a Governing Council delegation currently headed by Adnan Pachachi.
"Experts think it is possible to organise fair and transparent elections in the coming months," said a statement from Sistani's office.
Without an elected government, Sistani said he did not believe Washington had the right to negotiate a security agreement allowing US troops to stay in Iraq or to pass a fundamental law to govern the country in the coming transitional period.
Both documents "must be submitted to elected representatives of the people in order to have legitimacy".
Sistani warned Washington's current blueprint for Iraq's road to self-rule "would create numerous problems" in a country already gripped by a nine-month old insurgency.
The US-led coalition has ruled out early general elections on the grounds that Iraq's security situation is not stable and a national census still needs to be conducted.
Hundreds of demonstrators pelted British soldiers with rocks in the southern city of Amara, about 350 km southeast of Baghdad, the day after clashes left six dead when British troops and Iraqi police opened fire on grenade-throwers who infiltrated a protest by 500 jobless men.
Club-wielding British soldiers guarding the city hall charged the stone-throwing demonstrators who then fled.
No one was wounded.
Protestors distributed a tract demanding the coalition arrest the men who opened fire on Saturday's demonstration and called for Amara to choose a new governor.
Unemployment is a major problem in Iraq, with some putting the jobless rate at 50% of the population. US military officials have identified the woeful economy situation as a major security concern and a key to restoring stability.
Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi announced yesterday the final guidelines for de-Baathification in the public sector as Iraq's fledgling lawmakers took on more power from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
Chalabi, who enjoys a reputation as a vehement anti-Baathist, sounded a hard line, even as the CPA promoted reconciliation for those who did not commit serious crimes under Saddam.
"Reconciliation is an inappropriate term. Who will reconcile with whom? Will those buried in mass graves reconcile with those who killed them?" he asked.
The new guidelines reiterate that full members of the Baath party holding the ranks of regional command member, branch member, section member and group member will be dismissed from any government position.
They also ban full Baath party members from the three top posts at ministries or government institutions.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz stressed the kingdom's support for Iraq's unity during a meeting here yesterday with an Iraqi delegation, the Iraqi delegation leader said. – Sapa-AFP.
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