U.S. soldiers guarding Iraqi delegates to the meeting

BAGHDAD, April 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Split over how soon they would be ready to take the reins of power, Iraqi leaders agreed at a U.S.-sponsored meeting Monday, April 28, to hold a congress within a month to chart the path to an interim government.

The 300 delegates decided to hold a "general national congress, probably in Baghdad, within four weeks to spell out the rules to form a transitional government," said conference chairman Moufak Roubai, reported Agence France-Presse(AFP).

But while exiles who have lived away from Iraq for years appeared to favor a quick U.S. exit from the country, many of those who lived under Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule were skeptical over their preparedness to lead the nation.

"It is our responsibility to start the process of the birth of democracy in Iraq here today," said retired U.S. general Jay Garner, the man in charge of post-war Iraq until a new Iraqi government is formed.

"We have a chance for your sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, to be safe, to be free, and have the opportunity to live in peace and prosperity," he said.

"Today, on the birthday of Saddam Hussein, let us start the democratic process for the children of Iraq," he said, noting the symbolic timing of the gathering at what was once Saddam's showpiece convention center.

Shiite and Sunni Muslim religious leaders, Kurdish officials, tribal dignitaries, farmers and businessmen from across Iraq joined longtime exiles at the meeting, the second in a series to map Iraq's political destiny.

Tikritis celebrate Saddam’s birthday

The United States has already said it will not accept an Iranian-style regime run by Muslim clerics and, while calls for a theocracy have been muted, Shiites suppressed by Saddam have asserted their newfound political power.

Thousands of Shiites rallied in downtown Baghdad during Monday's meeting, calling for a greater say in the political future of Iraq, while the United States has yet to say how long it will take before handing over power.

A senior U.S. official in Garner's team had said Sunday that the meeting would be a chance for "emerging personalities" to assert their influence but there appeared to be no sign of a dominant force to lead a democratic Iraq.

"There was not a majority for any of them," Nasir al-Chadechy, from the National Democratic Party, told AFP.

Like a smaller meeting of about 70 delegates in southern Iraq two weeks ago, several prominent figures were absent as Iraq's complex mix of political, religious, ethnic and tribal communities jockey for power.

A spokesman for the main Shiite Muslim movement that opposed Saddam, the Iran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), told Al-Jazeera television it would not take part in any U.S.-led meetings.

Delegates to Monday's meeting expressed differences over whether the United States, which has not said when it will hand over power, should have a role in the country after an interim government is formed and until elections are held.

"There are differences over the role of the Americans. We here prefer the Americans to rule us in the interim period," said Suheil al-Suheil, a Baghdad lawyer. "We are not ready to handle this yet. Saddam's orphans are still alive."

His statement underlined the difficulty in creating a democracy out of the wreckage of post-war Iraq for a population which has known only Saddam's brand of dictatorship for the last quarter of a century.

Summing up the final resolution, delegate Sadr Shakir said: "We need a representative body or council to agree on an interim government because it's too early for us to go to elections."

"There was a strong desire from the floor to continue working with the coalition," said a senior official from Britain, the chief U.S. ally in the war and a key player in the effort to rebuild the nation.

"They consider what we did (to oust Saddam) was very important and there is a need for the coalition," the official said. He said no date had been set for handing power to Iraqis but said it would not last for "months and months."

"It is our responsibility to start the process of the birth of democracy in Iraq here today," Garner

The potential for chaos in post-war Iraq has already been witnessed in the spree of looting and anarchy which gripped most of the nation after Saddam was toppled on April 9.

The lack of order, as well as the slow speed in returning basic services like water, electricity and telephone lines, has fuelled criticism of Garner's administration, which has not said when it plans to hand over power.

Most of the delegates insisted that security was the top priority, which Garner pledged his team was also placing at the head of its list.

"We want a just state, and an Islamic one would be best because Islam is better than democracy," delegate Sheikh Ali Abdul Aziz, leader of the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan, told AFP.

But trader Saadi Abdul Rasul Ali said: "We prefer to have religion separate from the state because it would be better for our country. There are so many different communities."