October 3, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 25, 1423

WASHINGTON, Oct 2: The US government has begun planning the transition to a new government in Iraq that will emerge as a result of a US-led military invasion to topple President Saddam Hussein, The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

But the report said that in contrast to military plans that were already on President George Bush’s desk, the transition planning was still at a very early stage.

However, the National Security Council and the State Department were directed last month to develop a transition plan for Iraq, according to the paper.

In a bid to prevent political fissures, the US aim is to help create a federal democracy that would allow the various regions and tribes some degree of autonomy, The Times said.

US planners currently oppose a government-in-exile or a candidate emerging from within the opposition based outside the country to replace Saddam Hussein, the report pointed out.

Instead, they favor allowing events on the ground to play the biggest role in determining the new leadership, with the US-backed opposition largely in a supporting role.

“We know that there’s a strong possibility that either an individual or group of leaders inside Iraq could emerge with sile support and look like the natural leaders, the natural next wave,” the daily quoted an unnamed administration official as saying.

According to The Times, the effort is due in part to the administration’s assumption that an invasion would probably lead to the death of Saddam Hussein either in battle or, more likely, at the hands of one of his inner circle.

In a bid to hold the fractious country together, the United States is exploring the possibility of using three or more leaders from Iraq’s main ethnic and religious communities to jointly run the country until elections can be held, the report said.

Pentagon officials are still pressing for these leaders to come from the established opposition, who are known to US officials. But those officials are now in the minority, the paper said, citing administration sources.

At the same time, the State Department is bringing together more than a dozen opposition groups, as well as individual Iraqis in exile, to make plans for the transition, according to the report.

EXERCISES: US Marines have launched their annual Eager Mace exercise in the northern Gulf, storming Kuwaiti beaches in a drill which officials stress is unrelated to tensions over Iraq.

The U.S. embassy said in a statement that the exercise which started on Tuesday is expected to last for two weeks.

U.S. Lieutenant Garrett Kasper, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, said the exercise was aimed at “providing training for our troops and not in preparation for anything”.

But U.S. military training in Kuwait since the end of the 1991 war has gained significance in recent months as Washington threatens Iraq with possible military action.

U.S. ground forces are training at a desert camp close to the border with Iraq as part of the long-standing programme.

An increased deployment of U.S. military equipment to Kuwait has been described as the replenishment of stocks drawn down for the Afghanistan war.

Last week, U.S. warships unloaded equipment and hardware at Kuwait City’s Shuwaikh Port for the Eager Mace exercise.

“This is a series of planned exercises which include tactical scenarios without political implications,” said Kasper.

In previous Eager Mace wargames, Marines used battle tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, mobile Avenger stingers, helicopters, Harrier jets and other hardware.

Kuwait has said the additional equipment and manpower could leave the country at the end of the exercise, but says it would allow the use of its facilities for fresh action against Iraq if sanctioned by the United Nations.

The oil-rich state has launched a series of measures to defend civilians against a possible chemical weapons attack by Iraq.

Kuwait’s foreign minister Sheikh Sabah on Wednesday briefed Kuwaiti editors on the measures.—AFP/Reuters