Monday, September 08, 2003

WHEN IN CHARGE, TAKE CHARGE

Acting like they belong...which, of course, they do.
Iraq's new foreign minister, a member of the Kurdish minority, said yesterday that he is going to the Arab League meeting in Egypt this week to claim Baghdad's seat in the organization, not beg for it.

Iraq's seat on the pan-Arab group's council of ministers has remained empty since Saddam Hussein's ouster in April. The Cairo-based organization has refused to recognize the U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council, which was put in place in July.

"We are not seeking recognition. We are the de facto authority in Iraq, and we are attending as representatives of Iraq," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in his first comments since being sworn in Wednesday by the Governing Council.

Amr Moussa, the league's secretary-general, has hinted that the 22-member bloc may finally recognize the Governing Council as a legitimate government and include it in the organization. But, he said, the ministers must decide.

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