Annan: Date on Iraq Power Transfer Can Be Changed

[Barrett808]

Annan: Date on Iraq Power Transfer Can Be Changed
By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday that the June 30 deadline for a transfer of power in Iraq (news - web sites) could be changed if parties agreed but Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was adhering to the original plan "right now."

Annan's comments indicated that a U.N. electoral team, on its way to Iraq from Jordan, would have a relatively free hand in making proposals on the country's political transition, particularly if a provisional government cannot be selected by June 30 as the United States wants.

"My team is going to Iraq with an open mind," Annan told reporters on the fringe of a fund-raising meeting on Liberia that he and Powell co-sponsored. "If everyone concerned accepted there should be some shift in the dates, I don't think we would be able to resist."

Asked the same question, Powell said, "Right now we are remaining with the June 30 sovereignty date."

"We are sticking with the plan and the (Iraqi) Governing Council is sticking with the plan," Powell said.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=2&u=/nm/20040206/wl_nm/iraq_un_usa_dc

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Wisely they are waiting until we rotate our troops out of

Baghdad before they change the date.