*EPF204 06/15/2004
Iraqis Now Running 60 Percent of Own Government, CPA Says
(All provincial, 90 percent of municipal governments operating) (560)

Washington -- With just over two weeks to go Until Iraqi authorities assume sovereignty in their country, nearly 60 percent of the government there has already been transitioned to Iraqi control, says Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) spokesman Dan Senor.

At a press briefing in Baghdad June 15, Senor said 15 of Iraq's 26 ministries are now under Iraqi control. Furthermore, "all provincial governments are operating, and about 90 percent of Iraq's municipalities have operating city councils or town councils," he said, and hundreds of political parties, "through which Iraqis are freely and peacefully expressing their political views and preparing their democracy," now are functioning.

During the briefing Senor was asked about the prospects for the CPA handing over Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi government. Senor answered that discussions are currently taking place with the prime minister and that "both sides have an interest in handing Saddam Hussein over to the Iraqis, and the only matter is when is the appropriate time."

He said the Iraqi special tribunal currently "reports to a non-sovereign government. Post-June 30th, they will be reporting to a sovereign government and under international law will be in a position to allow Saddam Hussein to be tried by that body. But right now, it just simply cannot be done."

In other news, Senor told reporters to expect a political parties law to be announced in the next two weeks. As to whether Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr would be eligible to seek political office, Senor pointed out that al-Sadr is wanted in connection with the killing of an Iraqi cleric, which should preclude his eligibility. In addition, Senor said, early drafts of the new law indicate that political parties associated with illegal militias will be precluded from participation in the political process.

"In fact," he said, "the exact language I have seen is: No political entity may have or be associated with an armed force, militia or residual element, as defined in CPA Order Number 91.... So unless those issues are resolved, I just don't see how Muqtada al-Sadr can plan for a political life."

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director for coalition operations for Multinational Force Iraq, briefed with Senor. Kimmitt said that more than 400 detainees were released from Abu Ghraib prison June 14 and that more than a hundred additional detainees would be released in the next 48 hours.

Asked on what basis the detainees were released, Kimmitt said all those released June 14 and to be released in the next two days are "security internees. We do not release the criminal detainees; those are handled by the Iraqi Central Criminal Court.... These are all security internees who were deemed to be no longer ... an imminent security threat to Iraq."

Asked to speculate on the security situation in Iraq after June 30, Kimmitt said there have been "mixed intelligence reports, some suggesting there will be continued violence, with that violence directed at trying to demonstrate that the new government is shaky, wobbly and won't ����hang in there.' The coalition forces will continue military operations, continue to assess that intelligence, continue to stand ready for that additional violence along with our Iraqi security partners."

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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