New fast track for Iraqi sovereignty

"If all goes well, the political process should help consolidate the security situation," says Jafiri, noting that crime is already down in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. Attacks by resistance forces, on the other hand, may well increase as Iraqis show success at taking on their own affairs. "The more politically successful we are, the more violent the acts of sabotage get," he says.

On the economic front, some leaders worry that the new plans put a question mark over recently reactivated ministries and could stall investment and international donations - and thus a recovery in a country with over 60 percent unemployment.

"All the institutions in operation are - as of [Saturday] - lame ducks," says Mr. Allawi. "The transition period is too long.... It creates a hiatus we cannot afford."

The fact remains that it will be the same 24-member Governing Council - which US officials only last week were calling inept and more interested in international travel than running their own country - taking on more responsibility for setting the country's course towards independence.

But even some members who agree with the US criticisms say they expect a change. A council with real authority to shape Iraq's future will act differently from one that had a subordinate role, they say.

"We have been unable to solve [Iraqis'] problems because the authority lies with the CPA," says Mr. Othman. "We have met with our ministries every week. But when we haven't the authority to solve our problems, [some members] may prefer not to go [to the meetings]."

Some US officials in Baghdad see it differently. "The president is putting himself on the line here," says a CPA official. "We're spending $87 billion - that the president personally fought for - and our casualties are rising. It's time the Iraqis on the council stepped up to the plate."

The process by which Iraqis are to make the leap from partial observers to owners of their own destiny will play out on two "tracks," officials say: One provisional, the other longer and final.

By June, a 250-member transitional national assembly - one member for every 100,000 Iraqis - is to be "elected" by provincial committees made up of local elites: tribal leaders, trade unionists, religious leaders, academics, and business leaders.

According to Jafiri, members of the national assembly will have to be 30, have a bachelor's degree, be free of past Baathist Party affiliation, and have had no participation in atrocities or criminal activity.

The national assembly will then be charged with naming an executive branch by July 1. On the second track, a delegation of experts elected from the national assembly would write a constitution. A census is likely to be conducted for final elections that would be held once the constitution is ratified.

Othman says that many Iraqi leaders have argued that "some issues can wait, but others like the security issue cannot wait." They have won the battle to put off writing the constitution for as much as two years, while a provisional government working under a "basic law" handles immediate security and economic recovery issues.

But one thorn that will irritate the process is the question of the Kurdish north's right to some form of autonomy under a federal system. Another is the question of exactly who will write Iraq's constitution and whether the Shiite majority will feel fully represented in that process - and accept the final results.

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