Rumsfeld... will visit Iraq soon. WASHINGTON (AP):
THE UNITED States will not allow an Iran-style religious government to take hold in Iraq, nor will Syria or others in the region be permitted to influence Iraq's future, Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday in an interview with The Associated Press.
"If you're suggesting, how would we feel about an Iranian-type government with a few clerics running everything in the country, the answer is: That isn't going to happen," he said.
Shiites in Iraq are the majority Islamic sect, and they disagree on whether to embrace a secular government or an Iran-style theocracy. Some U.S. officials worry that the Islamic government in Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, may seek to influence Iraq's post-war reshaping.
Speaking in his Pentagon conference room, Rumsfeld also said that U.S. and British forces are searching for many more former members of the Saddam Hussein regime than the 55 on a 'most wanted' list.
"In fact we have a list of some 200," he said. "That original list was purposely kept low at the outset because we wanted to separate the worst people from the regime, hoping that others would come forward."
Rumsfeld said more of the top 55 have been captured in the past day or so than have been announced. He gave no details and said that once the identities are fully verified they will be made public.
SYRIA, IRAN MUSTN'T MEDDLE
Rumsfeld said the Iraqi people, after decades of political repression, need time to adjust to a new reality and to determine for themselves how to organise a new government and elections.
President George W. Bush made a similar point yesterday in a speech to workers at a tank factory in Ohio.
"One thing is certain: We will not impose a government on Iraq," Bush said. "We will help that nation build a government of, by and for the Iraqi people."
Rumsfeld, who is scheduled to visit Iraq soon, painted a mostly upbeat picture of progress in stabilising the country and moving it in the direction of establishing a new government.
As evidence of progress, he said humanitarian aid groups which specialise in emergency care are now leaving Iraq "because there is not an emergency" in terms of food and water supplies.
The Defence Secretary said neither Syria nor Iran should try to meddle in Iraq.
"What you want to try to do is have external influences muted or eliminated to the extent possible," he said. "The Iraqi people I think over time will not want influence from Iran in their country."
He would not predict how long U.S. and allied military forces would remain in Iraq.
Bush said yesterday: "We'll stay as long as it takes to complete our mission, and then all our forces are going to leave Iraq and come home."
The military's work now is a combination of snuffing out pockets of resistance from remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime and providing security so that humanitarian aid can flow, Rumsfeld said.
"The next step is to see that the Iraqi people begin to be involved in their communities and in the development of a national government," he said.
