Self-Rule Is Iraqi Council’s Top Goal

BAGHDAD — As American authorities investigated a suicide car bombing that targeted a regional U.S. military office, the president of the Iraqi Governing Council called Wednesday for the most rapid possible restoration of the country’s sovereignty.

A U.S. soldier was killed in Baghdad while trying to disarm an improvised bomb, and U.S.-led forces pressed operations across the country in search of supporters of deposed President Saddam Hussein.

Council President Ahmad Chalabi, in an apparent bid to strengthen the fledgling civilian authorities’ nationalist credentials with skeptical citizens, said at a news conference here that the U.S.-appointed Governing Council would not invite additional foreign troops to Iraq but instead looked forward to foreign troops’ departure.

“The stance of our council is to restore sovereignty on our land,” said Chalabi, who is seen by critics as having little political backing within Iraq, depending instead on his ties to Washington. “We will not invite troops to come. Our ultimate aim is complete sovereignty of Iraqis over Iraq.”

When asked about the apparent conflict with the goals of the Bush administration, which is seeking troops from other countries such as Turkey, he responded that “we understand the coalition is in charge of security within the country.” Still, the comments by Chalabi, who holds the council’s rotating presidency for a month, marked a backing away from an earlier welcome he indicated for a Turkish force.

The question of a Turkish force in Iraq is sensitive because of the large ethnic Kurdish population in the north near Iraq’s border with Turkey. Given the history of a 15-year Kurdish rebellion in Turkey, some observers fear there could be clashes between Kurdish and Turkish forces in Iraq.

The American soldier who died in Baghdad was part of a team trying to dispose of a roadside bomb, the U.S. military said. The team first attempted to detonate the bomb by shooting at it with a .50-caliber weapon, and the device exploded when the soldier went forward to investigate, the military said. The soldier’s name was withheld pending notification of relatives.

Two Iraqis and the car bomber were reported killed in Tuesday night’s attack on the U.S. military headquarters in the northern city of Irbil. Fifty-three people, including four intelligence workers with the U.S. Defense Department and a Kurdish guard, were wounded as the front of the two-story building collapsed. A sport utility vehicle exploded near the building about 8:50 p.m.

The bombing was the first major terrorist attack in the Kurdish-controlled north since the end of the war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The blast came on the heels of a recent threat by Ansar al Islam, a militant group that U.S. officials say has ties to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, to strike targets across the country. A faction of Ansar was based in the Irbil area before Kurdish militias forced the guerrillas east toward the Iranian mountains.

One of Ansar’s leaders, Abu Abdullah Shafiq, told Arab media that the group’s focus included assaults on the U.S.-led forces, which he described as the “occupier enemy.”

U.S. and Kurdish soldiers defeated Ansar in a three-day battle in March during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. About 250 Ansar fighters were killed and about 400 are believed to be hiding in the mountains along the Iraqi-Iranian border. Kurdish officials say that in recent months they have arrested about 50 of the group’s fighters, including Kurds and Arabs, attempting to move through northern Iraq.

In February and March, Ansar launched two suicide car bombings, killing seven people and wounding 24. One member of the group and two other militants were killed in a shootout with Kurdish forces last month in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah. The men, according to Kurdish intelligence, were planning to attack an Internet cafe frequented by U.S. soldiers.

At a military briefing Wednesday in Baghdad, U.S. Army Lt. Col. George Krivo said U.S.-led forces “continue offensive operations throughout Iraq to identify, detain or kill Saddam Fedayeen, former regime loyalists, Baathists and their supporters.” Troops seized a variety of ammunition and weapons at sites around the country, he said.

“During the last 24 hours, coalition forces have conducted 62 raids, 1,498 patrols and detained 69 people,” Krivo said.

Chalabi said at his news conference that the Governing Council would press forward with “de-Baathification” efforts to uproot the ideology of Hussein’s Baath Party from society.

“We don’t want to persecute people,” he said. “We want to de-Baathify the principles, the opinions, the ideas of the Baath.... We want to de-Baathify the Iraqi textbooks’ curriculum. We are resolving to clean our country from 35 years of the heritage of a fascist party, a dictatorial party that was built up on racism. We want to put an end to mass graves and persecutions.”

Chalabi praised the acceptance Tuesday of Iraq’s new foreign minister at a meeting of the Arab League, calling it “a very good development.”

“We want the best relations with other Arab countries,” he said. “We want to cooperate in every field.”

Asked whether the new Iraqi authorities could take a stance in the Arab League that conflicted with U.S. views -- on Israel, for instance -- Chalabi replied: “The U.S. is not a member of the Arab League.... We want to work in cooperation with the United States to achieve full sovereignty for Iraqis. We are working as friends and allies rather than adversaries. So contradictions, should they arise, are resolvable by very friendly means.”