Bremer had earlier said a national conference be held in July

WASHINGTON, June 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S. administrators have decided to "select" a small group of Iraqis to serve as an interim advisory council rather than convene a large national conference to create a transitional authority, a leading American paper said Monday, June 2.

The council could be formed within about some six weeks, The Washington Post quoted a senior U.S. official as saying.

The official, who spoke to a group of reporters in Baghdad on condition of anonymity, said the shift in plans from a conference to an appointed council was driven by "an enormous and complicated agenda" for the reconstruction of Iraq after 35 years of Baath Party rule under Saddam Hussein.

The move is expected to further anger ordinary Iraqis and political groups who want to play a greater role in running their war-torn country and see an end to the U.S.-British occupation.

This month witnessed a flare-up of anti-American sentiments, with their complaints of the occupying powers’ inaction over the poor security situation and lack of basic services. Twenty two American soldiers were killed in separate attacks in the country, with the latest in a grenade assault on Sunday, June 2.

Iraq's U.S. administrator Paul Bremer said late in May the conference would likely be held in July, more than a month later than originally planned.

Handpick

Citing the unnamed senior official, the Post reported that the U.S. occupation authority now planned instead to handpick 25 to 30 Iraqis to advise U.S. officials on day-to-day governance issues.

The official told the newspaper that the council would be selected by the U.S. and British governments and make recommendations to the U.S. officials, but would be chosen "through a process of consultation" with Iraqis.

Some privately said that they were discouraged by the plan and predicted that it would be criticized by ordinary people as a breach of a promise and an effort to prevent Iraqis from assuming even nominal authority over their country, the Post said.

"We are asking the Iraqis with whom we are in contact for their suggestions for who should be involved in this process," the official was quoted as saying.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ryan Crocker briefed representatives of seven formerly exiled political groups about the planned council on Sunday in Baghdad, the Post reported.

The newspaper said the participants included the Iraqi National Congress, which is headed by Ahmed Chalabi, the Shiite-dominated Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and two Kurdish political parties.

Representatives of some of the groups refused to comment publicly on Crocker's presentation, saying they planned to meet on Monday to formulate a joint response, the newspaper said.

Not Responsible For constitution

Unlike earlier plans for a transitional government, the interim council would not be responsible for drafting a new constitution. That task would fall to another group of Iraqis, who could be chosen through a national convention, the official said.

After a draft constitution is authored - and presumably endorsed by the U.S. authority - it would be put to a national referendum, the official said.

Once it passes, national elections would be held to select a new government. Only after that occurs, the official said, would the U.S. government transfer full governing authority to Iraqis, he added.

The top British official in Baghdad, John Sawers, said later in May that Washington and London do not intend to hand power to an Iraqi government until elections have been held, which he expected to take between one and two years.

The U.S. official was also quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying the interim administration would not be a sovereign government, and that "ultimate authority" would remain with the U.S.-led occupation until it handed over power to a democratically elected government.

The report appears as the U.S. and Britain came under fire for launching the invasion of Iraq under a false pretext, enhancing Iraqis’ suspicions that the U.S.-led forces are only grab for oil reserves, the second largest in the world.

Former British development minister Clare Short accused Prime Minister Tony Blair in a newspaper interview of having misled people by making the crisis over weapons of mass destruction seem unnecessarily urgent ahead of the war.

Washington and London justified the invasion was triggered by Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction. But more than 40 days into the fall of the country to the U.S.-led forces, no such banned weapons were found so far.