Nasser Al-Nahr, Asharq Al-Awsat

BAGHDAD, 15 September 2003 — On his first visit to Iraq after the ouster of the Saddam regime, US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday pledged to restore Iraqi rule but shied away from announcing a date for handing over power.

As Secretary Powell flew in from Kuwait another US soldier was killed in an attack in the flashpoint town of Fallujah. The latest fatality took the death toll of US soldiers since May 1 to 75.

Immediately after arrival, Powell plunged into talks on the beleaguered US-led occupation with officials, including US overseer Paul Bremer and interim Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

“We look forward for the next steps that will come, the writing of a constitution, and from that constitution the people will be given a chance to express their will,” Powell said after a brief meeting with Zebari.

“This will lead to a democratic Iraq that we will be very pleased to pass on responsibilities to in due course,” the secretary said.

But he steered away from endorsing a date of 2004 for elections, floated by members of the US-installed Iraqi Governing Council and France. Washington has called an accelerated schedule unrealistic.

Zebari said after his talks with Powell: “I am confident that the Iraqi people will regain their independence and their sovereignty as soon as possible. We hope that by mid-2004 or before the end of the year we will able to have a sovereign elected legitimate government in place.”

Aside from the slain US soldier, three other comrades were wounded in the Fallujah attack. Residents of Fallujah, still a hotbed of support for ousted leader Saddam Hussein, had sworn to avenge the killings Friday of 10 Iraqi policeman and a Jordanian hospital guard.

The American soldier was killed when his convoy was hit by an “improvised explosive device,” said military spokeswoman Sgt. Amy Abbott. Witnesses said a US helicopter attempted to evacuate the wounded to a nearby hospital in the town 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, but turned back without landing after it was targeted by a rocket that missed.