Iraq postpones voting for interim legislature

Iraqi national conference has delayed a scheduled vote for a 100-member new interim legislature.

Fuad Maasum, head of the preparatory committee told a news conference that the vote has been postponed until Wednesday.

The conference is expected to choose 100 persons to form an interim National Assembly to take responsibilities until the holding of the direct general elections next January.

The assembly will be responsible for advising the government, reviewing the policies it follows, forming committees, and objecting to some of the decisions of the interim government, through the approval of two thirds of the members.

It will also be responsible for appointing alternative leadership and approve the budget for the Iraqi government for 2005.

Meanwhile, a U.S. warplane has bombed near Najaf's vast cemetery as fighting with Shiite militants intensified Tuesday.

Violence in the capital also rattled the conference. A mortar round exploded on a central Baghdad street several miles away, killing seven people and wounding 35.

Two other explosions, closer by, shook the conference center itself, slightly injuring at least two people.

Explosions and gunfire were heard in the streets of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, throughout the day and U.S. troops entered the flashpoint Old City neighborhood, the stronghold of fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Source: CRIENGLISH.com