1 June 2004 -- Members of the Iraqi Governing Council have said Ghazi Ajil al-Yawir has been chosen to serve as interim president after Adnan Pachachi rejected the position.
Council member Nasir Kamil Chadirchi said al-Yawir accepted the post in a move to break the deadlock over the selection of an interim president -- a largely ceremonial post in the new government to take power 30 June.
The decision will be formally announced later today.
Pachachi, a former foreign minister, was reported to be the preferred choice of the United States and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, while most of the council preferred al-Yawir, an engineer and prominent tribal leader who is currently president of the Governing Council. Both Pachachi and al-Yawir are Sunni Muslims.
(Reuters/AFP/AP)
The decision will be formally announced later today.
Pachachi, a former foreign minister, was reported to be the preferred choice of the United States and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, while most of the council preferred al-Yawir, an engineer and prominent tribal leader who is currently president of the Governing Council. Both Pachachi and al-Yawir are Sunni Muslims.
(Reuters/AFP/AP)