Al-Yawir warns of lack of Transparency in Elections

Meanwhile, the leader of the Sunni Shimr tribe, Ghazi al-Yawir [Yawer] (a member of the Interim Governing Council), warned of large-scale protests at the secrecy surrounding the processes for electing the members of the new transitional council. He called for "A de facto end to the coccupation, not just in name alone."

He said that the IGC had discussed the process of elections. It had decided there would be three stages. The first would involve the election of one candidate for every 5000 citizens. Then these would be reduced to 20 %. In the third stage, the candidates would be reduced to 1/4 of the whole. (al-Hayat)

Assistant Secretary of State for Near East, William Burns, said that the Coalition Provisional Authority would be transformed into a big American embassy in Iraq once the new interim Iraqi government is established in June. He denied that the current process was an exit strategy, as some have suggested. He also expressed concern about Syria's role in the Middle East.