Global Policy Forum

UK soldiers, who took control of the strategic port seven weeks ago, have passed control to a temporary town council of 12 professionals. Elections for permanent council members are to be held on 22 May, which correspondents say will be a test of how willingly Iraqis take to the democracy that the coalition governments have promised them. Iraq has not had its own government since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. A new US administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, arrived in the country on Monday to lead the American post-war team. Among his duties will be overseeing the political transition towards the creation of an interim Iraqi Government.

Withdrawal

A short ceremony was held in Umm Qasr on Thursday to officially mark the handing over, with British Lieutenant Colonel Peter Jones representing the UK forces. Umm Qasr - with a population of 45,000 - was the first town to fall to the coalition and has been a key military objective and vital port for delivering humanitarian aid. Efforts have been made to redress the disruption caused by the war in the area. Public services have been restored and a new local police force is providing security in the harbour town. But some local people are concerned that the situation is not safe enough and will deteriorate when most of the 200 UK soldiers are withdrawn at the weekend. The democratic elections being held next week will allow anyone over 18 years old to vote.

The chairman of the interim council said it was a great moment - the first time in more than 35 years that the people have had a real say in the way their town is run. Coalition efforts to encourage the emergence of Iraqi leaders to work alongside the UK and British forces have so far been successful only in Umm Qasr and in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city.

UN opposition

Across Iraq the picture is much less clear, with local leaders emerging who are not willing to work with the Americans or British. In parts of the capital Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala and elsewhere, Shia mosque leaders are establishing food distribution networks, running hospitals and maintaining order without consulting or involving the coalition forces. Further aspects of the reconstruction of Iraq are to be discussed at the United Nations Security Council as the US wants a vote on a draft resolution to lift sanctions imposed on the country in 1990.

There is expected to be resistance from France, China, Germany and Russia who opposed US attempts to get the Security Council to back the latest invasion of Iraq. They have raised concerns about details of the resolution regarding the exact role and influence of the UN special envoy and how much control the Bush administration would have over Iraq's oil revenues for reconstruction purposes.

But US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who left Moscow on Thursday, said talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin had been successful, although there were some outstanding issues. In a gesture of goodwill, Mr Powell said he was sure a new government in Baghdad would take fully into account Iraq's $8bn debt to Russia.

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