ME welcomes Iraqi power handover

Iraqi interim President Ghazi al-Yawar is embraced by Iraq's interim Chief Justice Medhat Mahmud after taking his oath at the swearing-in ceremony of Iraq's new interim government yesterday in Baghdad. PHOTO: AFP

Among the most enthusiastic was Jordan's King Abdullah II who congratulated Iraq for its recovered sovereignty and pledged Amman's support for the eastern neighbour.

King Abdullah sent separate messages to Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar and Prime Minister Iyad Allawi "expressing Jordan's support for Iraq in this important phase", the palace said in a statement.

He also voiced Jordan's support "for all the measures that the Iraqi government will take to guarantee its security and the stability of Iraq" in a congratulatory statement addressed to Yawar.

The return of sovereignty to Iraq "is an important phase in the history of Iraq, which, we are confident, will recover its liberty and independence," the king said.

In the message addressed to Allawi he said that "the unification of the people of Iraq is the guarantee that will foil attempts by those who want to undermine Iraq's stability and its process for democratisation".

US overseer Paul Bremer formally handed power to the new government early Monday, ahead of the June 30 deadline amid widening violence by insurgents.

Iran's government, meanwhile, which was opposed to last year's US-led invasion that toppled president Saddam Hussein, gave a cautious welcome to the handover in Baghdad.

"We have already given our official point of view regarding Iraq. We welcome any move that will give sovereignty back to the majority of the Iraqi people and ends the occupation of our neighbour," the government spokesman said.

"We hope this is a step in this direction and will lead to a government based on the opinion of the Iraqi people," Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told reporters.

Another opponent of the war, Syria, gave no early reaction.

But Kuwait and a fellow Gulf state, the United Arab Emirates, swiftly hailed the restoration of sovereignty to Iraq and voiced hope for a return of stability.

"We are pleased with the transfer of power to the Iraqi people," Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah told reporters, expressing hope that stability would also return to Iraq.