Violence giving voice to Iraq's new stars

[dArKeR]

AP , BAGHDAD
Monday, Apr 19, 2004,Page 6

A new batch of Iraqi leaders has sprung up in the latest spasm of violence in Iraq -- people with grassroots support but few or no ties to the US-led occupation.

The new players include an association of Sunni clerics, "the Prince of the Marshes" from southern Iraq and an outspoken Shiite woman dentist.

The rise of these new figures is largely at the expense of politicians with links to the US-led occupation. Their arrival comes as Iraqi leaders are wrangling over who will make up a government due to take power from US administrators on June 30.

On that day, the US-appointed Governing Council -- a 25-member body that has served as Iraq's interim government since July but failed to win the trust of many Iraqis -- will likely be dissolved.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who was asked to come up with a plan for Iraq's transition, has proposed the council be replaced by a caretaker government of "men and women known for their honesty, integrity and competence."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/04/19/2003137274

[JoFerret]

1. Are these the much vaunted technocrats?

.