Brahimi has confirmed Ghazi al-Yawar’s appointment as the president of Iraq’s interim government. According to the NYT‘s, this occurred because the Bush administration’s choice, Adnan Pachachi, refused the position.
Mr. Brahimi also announced that Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite from the Dawa party, and Rowsch Shaways, of the Kurdish Democratic party, were to be Mr. Yawar’s vice presidents.
Does this mean Bremer will not carry out his threat to veto this appointment?
Juan Cole gets into more detail about other posts and referring to the Allawis says their presence signifies a blow to Chalabi’s influence. He goes on to recognise that “the old minister of finance was Kamel al-Gailani, a close Chalabi associate who supported unbridled robber baron capitalism.” The new minister of finance, Adil Abdul Mahdi, “is from the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite religious party with strong ties to Iran.” Wouldn’t this suggest that although Chalabi’s money train is undergoing a search and seizure at the station the occupation remains on the same track and he’s still onboard?
Dahr Jamail writes that the situation in Iraq is getting worse by the day. It includes a disturbing account of “an assassination attempt on Ismail Zayer, the editor of the New Sabah, a newspaper Mr. Zayer founded after breaking ranks with the CPA-controlled Sabah newspaper.” And this, amongst other observations:
One man I know, when asked what he thought about Alawi, said frankly, “He will be killed, insh’allah.” Another Iraqi friend said, “If he lasts a month, he’ll be very lucky.”
Update: Would the Iraqi police witnessed in the assassination attempt Dahr Jamail described be part of the same force that closed the Ramadi offices of Ahmad Chalabi yesterday?