Posted on 04/24/2003 12:45:47 PM PDT by areafiftyone
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - The retired U.S. general overseeing Iraq's reconstruction promised Thursday to remove Baghdad's self-proclaimed mayor if residents of the capital rejected him.
But Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi, who declared himself the city's new administrator earlier this month, met aides he has appointed to run Baghdad's public services and toured hospitals and water plants, undaunted by the threat from the general, Jay Garner.
Zubaidi has appointed 22 committees to function in place of ministries, including health, education, water, electricity, oil and industry.
Garner, put in charge of rebuilding Iraq by the United States after the three-week war that ousted Saddam Hussein, reiterated that Zubaidi was not recognized by Washington or its allies.
"The coalition doesn't have a candidate and if the people of Baghdad are unhappy with him, all they have to do is come and tell us and we will ask him to leave. And we will show him how to leave," Garner told a news conference in Baghdad.
Zubaidi has said he was elected by people representing clerics, academics, Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims, Christians, writers and journalists -- although he has not said how or when a vote took place or who organized it.
"We are a group of independent opposition Iraqis," he told Qatar-based al-Jazeera television Thursday.
"I was appointed by the Iraqi people and the tribes and we were asked to expand our work," he said. "We gained our legitimacy from the people. I have nothing to do with the Americans."
Most Iraqis interviewed by Reuters said they knew nothing about any vote.
Zubaidi has said he is just administering civil services that broke down during the bombing of Baghdad -- not heading a government.
He has links to the Iraqi National Congress, headed by pro-U.S. exile Ahmad Chalabi, but a group official said he did not have any political affiliation to the group.
The self-styled mayor was snubbed by Garner's administration -- not for the first time -- when he was sidelined from a meeting Thursday involving the retired U.S. general, his reconstruction team and about 60 Iraqi academics and community leaders to discuss rebuilding the capital.
POWER VACUUM
The power vacuum created by the rapid fall of Saddam Hussein's Baath party government has opened the way for self- styled leaders to fill the void.
Defense Department officials said Army Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, commander of the U.S. ground forces in Iraq, was drafting a proclamation stating that in the absence of a new government, the U.S.-led "coalition forces" retained full authority within the country.
The coordinator for central Iraq in the U.S. civil administration, Barbara Bodine, said Monday Zubaidi was not recognized because he had not gone through a selection process.
"There hasn't been a process of selection. Once there's a process, then whomever," Bodine said.
Zubaidi conceded Bodine's comments were "not good" but said he was still ready to cooperate with her to help rebuild the Iraqi capital.
Unfazed, he has pressed on with his own agenda, visiting hospitals and holding a meeting on Thursday with the heads of the 22 committees he set up to run the city.
This week he has addressed senior officials from Baghdad's utility, banking, health and education sectors in a bid to get the city back on its feet, and met chiefs of local tribes.
Some Iraqi officials have said they welcomed Zubaidi's efforts to coordinate much-needed reconstruction. Mumtaz Ayoub, a director of Baghdad's electricity commission, said: "We don't care what the Americans think."
The head of one of Iraq's state banks, who asked not to be identified, praised the work of the 22 working committees set up by Zubaidi, saying they were making good progress.
A member of one of Zubaidi's committees said civil servants had been told to return to work and that salaries would start being paid by April 30. He gave no details on where the funds to pay the salaries would come from.
Asked what authority he had to distribute the cash, he said he had the backing of senior Iraqi officials and bankers who were not connected with the collapsed government.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.