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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's transitional prime minister called Wednesday for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops and the top U.S. commander here said he believed a "fairly substantial" pullout could begin next spring and summer. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said at a joint news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the time has arrived to plan a coordinated transition from American to Iraqi military control throughout the country. Asked how soon a U.S. withdrawal should happen, he said no exact timetable had been set. "But we confirm and we desire speed in that regard," he said, speaking through...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi said he had escaped an attempt on his life during a recent visit to Lebanon. Members of the Lebanese Shiite movement Amal helped foil the attack, Allawi said at a joint press conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, although he did not say how or when it occurred. "I must thank my brothers from the Amal movement, especially the intelligence services that thwarted the attack. I owe them a lot," said Allawi, who frequently travels to Lebanon.

Iraqi PM in landmark Iran visit BBC Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has begun the first top-level visit to Iran since the two neighbours waged an eight-year war in the 1980s. More than 10 ministers are accompanying Mr Jaafari to open what Iranian media have called a new chapter in ties. They are expected to discuss security and the control of their long border. A new friendship is blossoming between Tehran and Baghdad to the consternation of the US, still bogged down in Iraq, says the BBC's Frances Harrison. After decades of no diplomatic relations, Iraq now has a prime...

BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister defended the presence of U.S. troops on Iraqi soil , telling parliament their withdrawal would not be forced by insurgents but that foreign forces could leave some cities as a first step. "We want the withdrawal decision to be an Iraqi decision with an Iraqi timetable not with a terror timetable," Ibrahim Jaafari told lawmakers, assuring them that the government was protecting its people's interests with the occupying forces. He was speaking after a leaked British government memo revealed plans in London and Washington for a sharp reduction of close to two thirds in foreign...

Europe was saved by generosity and vision — the same is needed in the Middle East LAST WEEK I was at Blair House in the centre of Washington DC. In this house is the table on which George Marshall in June 1947 signed the plan to pump today’s equivalent of $500 billion into the impoverished economies of Europe as an investment against future conflict. The plan was controversial but nobody would now deny its far-sightedness. Nazism gave way to a lasting democracy, economic devastation was replaced by slow but sure progress towards economic regeneration. Consider Germany of 1945 and Germany...

Profile: Iraqi PM designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari BAGHDAD, April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq's presidential council named on Thursday Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister for the transitional government. The Iraqi Kurdish president Jalal Talabani read a presidential decree to reporters after the sworn-in ceremony, charging Jaafari to form the new Iraqi cabinet. Jaafari is head of the Islamist Dawa Party, which is a major party forming the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, which won a majority in Jan. 30 elections, along with the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) led by Abdel Aziz Hakim. Jaafari, one of the two former vice...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Many consider Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the prominent cleric who leads the United Iraqi Alliance, to have emerged as the country's top Shiite power broker after the Jan. 30 elections. A leader of a key Shiite political organization, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (news - web sites), al-Hakim opposed Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) from exile in Iran (news - web sites) before returning after the U.S.-led invasion. The alliance he leads with the backing of Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most powerful Shiite cleric, took 140 of the 275 seats...

Beyond these political challenges, two other familiar and no less formidable challenges remain: Iraq's security and Iraq's economy. We need to continue to build Iraq's security forces and security apparatus in a transparent and accountable, as well as effective, manner. This will both improve security and allow the multinational forces to leave Iraq. Grateful as we are to the international community for the help and their sacrifices to date, Iraqis should be able to start taking over more and more security responsibilities very soon. But we will continue to need and to seek assistance for some time to come. Security...

Something truly historic happened in Iraq the other day. For the first time since the creation of Iraq as a state in 1921, a leadership that has emerged from free and fair elections was able to agree on a nominee for the post of prime minister. But this is not the only reason why the occasion was historic. There is also the fact that Ibrahim Jaafari, the 58-year-old physician chosen for the job, is a Shiite Muslim. To be sure Jaafari is not the first Shiite to get the job in Iraq. The current interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is...

The Baghdad government's burgeoning optimism over the prospects of very soon collaring Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's man in Iraq, is fed from interim prime minister Iyad Allawi office. Talib al-Dulaymi, the trusted aide aka as Abu Qutaybah, who set up Zarqawi's appointments with fellow terrorist chiefs, arranged safe houses and transport, was captured on February 20 at Anah NW of Baghdad with Ahmad Ismail al-Rawi, identified as one of Zarqawi's drivers. In custody too are Mohammed Najam Ibrahim, described as leader of an al Qaeda-affiliated cell in Baqouba and responsible for a series of beheadings, and another top Zarqawi...

Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 6:47 a.m. ESTHillary Rebuked by Iraqi Leader New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has caused an international incident after she criticized Iraq's leading candidate to become prime minister as a result of last month's historic election, prompting a sharp rebuke. "Hillary Clinton, as far as I know, does not represent any political decision or the American administration, and I don't know why she said this," Dr. Ibrahim Jafari, who is expected to become prime minister, told the Times of London on Thursday. "She knows nothing about the Iraqi situation," he added. During an interview last Sunday,...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi announced Wednesday he's forming a broad coalition to fight for the post of prime minister after Iraq's dominant Shiite political party nominated a conservative for the job. "There are other lists and other brothers in smaller lists which won the elections, and we are working with some of those lists to form a national Iraqi democratic coalition which believes in Iraq and its principles," Allawi told a news conference. Allawi said he considered al-Jaafari an "honorable man," but when asked if he feared that the alliance could impose Islamic rule in Iraq,...

Interim Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen as his Shiite ticket’s candidate for Iraq’s next prime minister on Tuesday, after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior alliance officials said. Al-Jaafari was most likely to be approved by two-thirds of the newly elected 275-member National Assembly when the parliament convenes. A date for that has not been set. The only other likely opponent for the post would be interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who was nominated for the job by his group. The Iraqi List got only 14 per cent of the vote - or 40 seats.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Interim Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen Tuesday to be his Shiite ticket's candidate for prime minister after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior alliance officials said. Pressure from within the ranks of the winning United Iraqi Alliance forced the withdrawal of Chalabi, a one-time Pentagon (news - web sites) favorite, said Hussein al-Moussai from the Shiite Political Council, an umbrella group for 38 Shiite parties. "They wanted him to withdraw. They didn't want to push the vote to a secret ballot," al-Moussawi said. The 140 members were to put the decision between Chalabi and al-Jaafari...

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's interim vice-president, was virtually assured on Tuesday of becoming prime minister in the new government after his candidacy was accepted by the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia-led bloc that swept the country's elections. The Alliance's decision followed a week of negotiations among parties within the bloc and after the withdrawal of two leading challengers, Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress and Adel Abdul Mahdi of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Mr Jaafari, who hails from the Da'awa party, a Shia Islamist group with strong ties to Iran, is seen as one of...

Interim Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen as his Shiite ticket's candidate for prime minister Tuesday after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior alliance officials said. Al-Jaafari's selection means he likely will lead Iraq's first democratically elected government in 50 years. But first he has to be approved by a coalition that likely will include the Kurds, and then he must be approved by a majority of the newly elected National Assembly. Pressure from within the ranks of the United Iraqi Alliance, which won Iraq's landmark Jan. 30 election, forced the withdrawal of Chalabi, a one-time Pentagon favorite, said Hussein...

BAGHDAD - Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee -- despite days of negotiations. Chalabi spokesman Haidar al-Moussawi said the most powerful man in predominantly Shiite Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, met...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee - despite days of negotiations. Chalabi spokesman Haidar al-Moussawi said the most powerful man in predominantly Shiite Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The battle to become Iraq (news - web sites)'s prime minister heated up on Monday when interim leader Iyad Allawi's coalition formally put him forward as a candidate after last month's historic elections won by a Shi'ite alliance. Allawi's coalition, which came third in the Jan. 30 vote, winning 14 percent of the vote and securing 40 seats in the 275-member National Assembly, decided to put their candidate forward after nearly two weeks of intense debate. The proposal comes as Allawi's biggest ally, President Bush (news - web sites), begins a five-day tour of Europe with an...

The leader of an Islamic party who is expected to be named Iraq's new prime minister in the next few days has urged Tony Blair not to pull out British troops.Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who would be the first Shia to be in charge of the Iraqi government, confounded his critics by saying that his country could not maintain order without the help of foreign soldiers. "Iraq's security services need more personnel, training and equipment," he said yesterday. "We need their presence for a certain time till we can depend on ourselves 100 per cent. "There are many people still working for...