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Date: 14 February 2004
NAJAF, Iraq, Feb 14 (AFP) - 15h15 - Iraq's interim Governing Council will be handed sovereignty over the country on June 30 if no elections are held by then to form a transitional government, a Kurdish member of the council said Saturday.
"I expect sovereignty to be handed over on time," Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani told reporters, referring to the deadline agreed between the US-led coalition and the council.
"I expect that the Governing Council will receive sovereignty if no elections are held for a transitional government," added the Kurdish leader, who sits on the 25-member council appointed by the coalition in July.
He was speaking after a meeting with Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in this Shiite pilgrimage city, 160 kilometresmiles) south of Baghdad.
Sistani has been demanding that the transitional government be elected directly, before June 30, and not selected by a caucus system as planned by the coalition.
UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi ruled out Friday the feasibility of an early poll, but left open the possibility that the mechanism of selecting the transitional administration be overhauled to ensure better representation.
Sistani and the religious establishment of the majority Shiite community have not yet reacted to Brahimi's conclusions.
Talabani said Sistani did not comment specifically on his demands for early elections, but made general remarks on democracy. "The 'sayyid' (Sistani) is an embodiment of democracy," said the Kurdish leader.
Sistani's demands are understood to aim at ensuring that the Shiites, who make about 60 percent of the population, take over the post-occupation government, ending 80 years of domination by Sunni military and political elites.
Talabani said Brahimi had estimated during his visit that it would take six to eight months to organise elections in Iraq.
Brahimi said Friday the United Nations would offer advice "in the coming few days" on how to select the transitional administration. He would also offer "before a week or 10 days" an opinion on when elections can be held/
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had dispatched a nine-member team led by Brahimi to probe Sistani's demands and eventually broker a compromise between him and the coalition.
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