New head of Iraqi council wants better protection

The new head of Iraq's Governing Council, whose predecessor was killed by a car bomb on Monday, said members of the US-appointed body needed better protection and had been left vulnerable to attack.

Ghazi Ajil al-Yawar said the US-led administration in Iraq had cut short security training for council members' staff in January and had failed to supply equipment such as bullet proof vests for their body guards.

"We need better protection, like more armoured cars. We need better locations to live in so that we can commute easily to our work without feeling a risk to our safety," he said.

"Most of the members have just regular vehicles. These vehicles are very vulnerable," he said.

Izzedin Salim, who had held the rotating Governing Council presidency, was killed by the suicide car bomb attack as a council convoy was heading into the heavily guarded "Green Zone" headquarters of the US-led authorities.

In September, gunmen assassinated Aqila al-Hashemi, one of three women on the council.

US military officials say the car bomb attack bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda. An Islamic website carried a claim of responsibility from an Iraqi group, the "Arab Resistance Group - al Rashid Brigades".

Mr Yawar said Iraqi security forces should play a wider role in cracking down on insurgents, both Iraqi and foreign. "We need anti-terrorism police. We need some kind of... very strong and robust security intelligence," he said.

US-led authorities are due to cede sovereignty to a new unelected Iraqi government on June 30. But some have questioned the date's significance with US-led forces due to stay.

Ahmad Chalabi, another council member, has said sovereignty should mean full Iraqi control over the security forces.

Mr Yawar said he would like the Iraqi defence minister to have overall command of foreign and Iraqi troops post-June 30, but acknowledged that was unlikely. But US-led forces have promised to consult more and listen to Iraqi advice, he said.

"That is what we have been promised. The interim government has to invite these forces to stay in Iraq. You would expect your guest to listen to you," he said.

The US military had paid more attention to Iraqi advice recently. But he said they had ignored it when they besieged Falluja, where doctors say more than 600 Iraqis were killed in one month of fighting between insurgents and US forces.

US forces have sought the help of an officer from the former Iraqi army and local forces to restore order to the town.

Mr Yawar said Iraqi security forces should take charge of cities with foreign troops ready on the periphery to assist if needed. Iraqis were tired of foreign military on their streets.

"You go out in the afternoon into a peaceful street in Baghdad and all of sudden there is a tank running past you," he said.

Weariness with occupation and failure to boost the economy, coupled with a scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib jail outside Baghdad, had undermined already withering Iraqi confidence in US intentions, he said.

Making sure justice is served against those charged with abusing prisoners would be crucial if Washington wants to repair its image in Iraq.

"They should be imprisoned... These are sadists," he said. Dismissal from the military or reprimands would not be enough and failure to punish them would undermine efforts to convince Iraqis that friendship with Washington was worthwhile.

"Even... I would start losing faith in the feasibility or the reason we are having this friendship," he said.