BAGHDAD - Many Iraqis voiced concern last Tuesday that their new interim government was merely a US puppet, while others urged the leaders to spend their short time in power bringing peace and stability to Iraq.
Iraqi leaders cut a deal on Tuesday with the US and UN on a government to lead the country out of occupation and organise Iraq's first free elections in the new year. The deal saw Washington's choice for president make way for Ghazi al-Yawar, a member of the Shamar tribe.
While having little against the individuals picked to form the Cabinet, many Iraqis scoffed at the idea they would really be in charge.
"This is a government that has just come in for six months to create the right conditions for the Americans to stay here," said Samir, a translator in Baghdad.
US President George W. Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice described the new leaders as a "terrific list", saying they were "not American puppets."
"The new government is the same design as the old; the Americans chose them both," said Mehdi Dawood al-Izba, who runs a taxi company from Baghdad. "But Yawar is a good Iraqi and that is better than the occupation at least."
In his first speech since becoming president, Yawar called for the UN to give Iraq "full sovereignty" when the US-led occupation authority is wound up on June 30.
But 150,000 foreign soldiers, mostly Americans, appear likely to stay on to provide security in the near future.
Yawar, whose tribe includes more than a million Sunni and Shi'ite Iraqis, also pledged to work for a unified and federal Iraq. But many Iraqis have grown weary of exiles returning to take positions of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
"I can't say anything about Yawar because I haven't ever really heard of him - he hasn't been involved in politics in recent years - and he was chosen, not elected," Ahmed Ali, a merchant in the southern city of Basra, said.
"But what I will say is that he must understand that he is in power only for six months and he must use that time for the whole of the nation, the whole of Iraq, not just for himself."
Near the Western border with Syria, Shamar tribesmen celebrated by singing, dancing and firing AK-47 rifles into the air. In the Sunni heartland north of Baghdad, people also welcomed his nomination.
"He's a man with a good reputation, I only hope that he doesn't make his tribe powerful and favoured like Saddam did with his tribe in the past," said Haider Abdul Hamid, a 22-year-old student in Basra.
Others said they had given up watching the news for the latest developments, focussing more on day-to-day difficulties and a persistent insurgency against the US occupation forces.
"Whether he is any good or not, he is not going to be there for long," said Anwar Mohammed Saeed, 70, a carpenter in Baghdad. "We just want someone who will bring us peace and stability in the end."
(Agencies via Xinhua)
