Iraqis reacted with weary scepticism yesterday to promises from President Bush, saying his offer of sovereignty did not go far enough to restore their freedom.
Iraq's defence minister said he hoped newly trained Iraqi forces could replace US-led troops within a year.
Reacting to a US-proposed draft UN resolution that would hand many powers to an interim government on June 30th, the Iraqi Governing Council welcomed the idea but called for changes to give Iraq full control over troops on its soil and its oil. After 14 months of occupation, Iraqi leaders and the people in the street made clear yesterday they want to be left alone.
"Bush is a scorpion. He is a liar. He is sneaky, making all kinds of promises when he just wants to control Iraq," said Ayman Haidar, a policeman manning a Baghdad traffic checkpoint.
The draft would give a multinational force under US command an effectively open-ended mandate, reviewable in a year.
"We as Iraqis see the necessity of the presence of forces," said Mr Ghazi al-Yawar, head of the US-backed governing council, whose predecessor was murdered last week. "But in the period to come we want to have the right to ask that these forces leave."
He also demanded control of revenue from oil sales, which Washington proposes should be subject to international audit.
Iraqi Defence Minister, Mr Ali Allawi, said US and allied troops should be replaced swiftly by Iraqis. "The multinational force, in as much as its presence is needed to maintain security now, will need to be over time replaced by indigenous forces, Iraqi forces. And we expect that to happen within the course of a year," he said in London. It would take "months rather than years".
A spokesman for the US forces in Iraq, Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, repeated there was no "calendar" for pulling out: "We are committed to staying here long enough to complete the task to let the Iraqi security forces have the sufficiency to stand on their own two feet," he said.
Meanwhile, US tanks were in action before dawn south of the capital, Baghdad, yesterday, battling Shia al-Mahdi army fighters around the town of Kufa. At least 11 people were killed and 22 wounded.
Nearby, a doorway of the holiest Shia shrine, Najaf's Imam Ali mosque, was damaged by what appeared to be rockets or mortars. Militia officials said several people were hurt in an incident set to upset believers across the Middle East.
It was confirmed yesterday that the top US officer in Iraq, Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, is to be replaced but not because of the Abu Ghraib Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, defence officials insis- ted. Gen George Casey, army vice chief of staff, is a favourite to succeed him in June or July, they said. - (Reuters)