"We will be here as long as it takes," said Garner

BAGHDAD, April 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. civil administrator for Iraq retired U.S. general Jay Garner arrived in the Iraqi capital Monday, April 21, to kick off his mission of "rebuilding" the war-battered country after the ouster of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

"What better day in your life can you have than to be able to help somebody else, to help other people, and that is what we intend to do," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Garner as telling reporters at Baghdad airport after arriving from Kuwait.

He was expected to plunge into work with visits to water and power plants as well as a hospital during the day, saying his priority was to restore basic services such as water and electricity "as soon as we can."

Asked what the greatest challenge was, he said: "Everything is the challenge."

‘As Long As It Takes’

Garner said his aim was to "leave" as soon as possible but would not confirm any three-month deadline to complete his mission.

"We'll be turning portions of the government over to them (Iraqis), not in any time phase, but when they're ready to accept it," he said.

"I wouldn't put 90 days as a mark on the wall. We will be here as long as it takes. We will leave fairly rapidly."

He had visits planned in Baghdad on Monday to a primary water treatment plant, a main power plant and Yarmuk hospital.

As head of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), he will supervise work from relief deliveries and economic development to establishment of an independent government.

Garner was accompanied by Tim Cross, a British national and his international deputy. His initial team of about 19 civilian administrators will swell to about 450 over the next week.

The U.S. was criticized for appointing Garner, who owns an arms company that helped the U.S. bomb Baghdad, to oversee "humanitarian relief and rebuilding of Iraq."

Garner is president of an arms company that provides crucial technical support to Patriot missile systems.

For his part, the Congress Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts told FOX News Sunday, April 20, that "We have come to stay."

While former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger said that it might take two years for U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

Chalabi Denies Assassination Attempt  

In another development, pro-U.S. Iraqi opposition leader Ahmad Chalabi was at the centre of a security scare at his Baghdad compound but he denied Sunday that he had been a target of an assassination attempt just days after his arrival.

Chalabi told ABC television from Baghdad that a stray bullet had wounded one of his security guards on Saturday night, April 19.

Asked whether it could have been an assassination attempt, Chalabi replied: "No, certainly not."

"People were firing in the air, and a stray bullet landed cold on one of our security people, and he was slightly injured. He was treated by U.S. forces here and taken to hospital. It wasn't serious," the head of the Iraqi National Congress insisted.

Chalabi arrived in Baghdad last Wednesday, April 16, and has made his base in a villa previously occupied by the son of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion.

Chalabi said the anti-U.S. stance taken by many Shiite clergy in Iraq since the ending of the Baghdad regime was a backlash after the downfall of Saddam.

"The Shiite population in Iraq has been repressed by Saddam along with everyone else. They have been prevented particularly from expressing their religious views," he said.

He said protests in Baghdad and other cities by religious groups were "an act of defiance against Saddam" and not a challenge to the interim authority that will be set up by the United States.

"There is a role for the Islamic religious parties, including the Shiite religious parties, because they have some constituency. But they are not going to be forcing any agenda or forcing a theocracy on the Iraqi people."

He added: "They are committed to being part of a democratic process in Iraq."

On Garner’s visit, Chalabi said it would be Garner's duty to get basic services running again in Iraq and his job would be finished "in a few weeks."

"Meanwhile, we must start the process of choosing an Iraqi interim authority to take over the reins of power in the country," Chalabi said.

"But the political process, I don't think, is within General Garner's brief. This is going to be done by Iraqis in cooperation directly with the United States government and its representatives in Washington."

The 57-year-old businessman, who spent long years in exile in London, spent nearly two months in Kurdish-held northern Iraq ahead of the U.S.-British invasion.

Some in Washington see him as the only “viable” head of a future Iraqi government. Two other Iraqis -- Mohammed Mohsen Zubeidi and Jaudat Obeidi of the INC -- have claimed leadership positions.