Iraqis sidestep Americans

last updated 8 January 2015

Baghdad

The U.S. governing authority in Iraq has scrapped its plan to hold a national assembly of 300 representatives to elect an Iraqi government next month. It said this week it would instead appoint a 30-member council of Iraqis to act as governing advisors for an undetermined length of time. Iraqi political groups are furious. A coalition of seven former exile groups, including the Iraqi National Congress and the Shiite Supreme Council, insisted that it would hold a national assembly anyway. “The U.S. cannot cancel a conference led by Iraqis,” said Entifadh Qanbar of the Iraqi National Congress. “This is not an American issue.”