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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (433151)	7/25/2003 2:03:03 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 769667

Shambles as Hoon stays silent Defence secretary refuses questions on Kelly's death Ewen MacAskill Friday July 25, 2003 The Guardian Geoff Hoon suffered a high profile setback yesterday in his fight to hang on to his ministerial job when an official press conference was reduced to a shambles by his refusal to answer questions about David Kelly's death. The defence secretary made a surprise appearance at the Foreign Office alongside the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and three members of the Iraq leadership council on a visit to Britain. But the meeting was abandoned after only a quarter of an hour. It was Mr Hoon's first appearance before the press since it emerged he had helped put Dr Kelly's identity into the public arena. Dr Kelly, who provided information to a BBC journalist, Andrew Gilligan, about the government's dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, committed suicide last week. Responding to an opening question by an Arab journalist asking if he expected to remain in government after Lord Hutton, who is conducting the inquiry into Dr Kelly's death, completed his report, Mr Hoon said: "I think it is very important to show respect to our guests and ask questions about their visit here rather than to deal with an inquiry to which I will give evidence in due course." He then refused to answer further questions and sat uncomfortably through the remainder of the press conference. Mr Hoon had not been on the original list of participants for yesterday's press conference. The defence secretary, who had been seen in public at the Grand Prix on Sunday and at the home of Dr Kelly's widow on Wednesday, may have decided that a Foreign Office press conference offered a quiet return. But, instead of the normal dozen or so diplomatic correspondents, more than 50 journalists attended. One asked if Mr Hoon and the Downing Street director of communications, Alastair Campbell, would resign. Mr Hoon interjected to say he would not answer. A second reporter asked if it was acceptable for Mr Hoon to hide behind a judicial inquiry when "all you have to do is to make a moral judgment as to whether you can square with your conscience the fact that you are responsible for a department which named the dead scientist?" Mr Straw, who had pleaded in vain at the outset for questions to be restricted to the Iraq leadership council, intervened to deflect the question from Mr Hoon. "We have already dealt with that," he said. The next journalist up, from the BBC, asked would the war be justified if no weapons of mass destruction were to be found, and adding whether Mr Hoon could provide assurances about the way Dr Kelly's name became public. After insisting the war was as justified today as when the Commons voted for it, Mr Straw said: "I am sorry, we have to finish." He added: "If you want to know where Geoff and I are going, it is for a meeting of the cabinet committee on Iraq which I chair and on which he is a member. I am very, very sorry about the heat in here."

To: tejek who wrote (433151)	7/25/2003 4:26:05 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

washingtonpost.com White House Wants Baker to Head Iraq Reconstruction Unresolved Whether Baker or Bremer Would Have Final Word By Mike Allen and Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, July 25, 2003; 12:20 PM The White House hopes to persuade former secretary of state James A. Baker III to take charge of the physical and economic reconstruction of Iraq as part of a broad restructuring of post-war efforts, administration sources said today. Under the plan, L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, would focus on rebuilding the country's political system. The new structure is still in the discussion stages, and a source close to Baker said he has not accepted the job. The sources said one hurdle is determining whether Baker or Bremer would have the final word, and they said that question is unresolved. The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University referred questions to Baker's law firm, Baker Botts LLP in Houston. Baker did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. The negotiations reflect a growing realization within the administration that the post-war plan was inadequate and that simple patience, the White House's initial prescription, will not do. Bremer said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that progress has been made in restoring services and creating a government, but he said the effort could last for years. The assignment also would be the latest of a series of high-profile missions that Baker, 73, has undertaken for President Bush and his father. Baker headed Bush's Florida recount effort after the disputed election of 2000. Against his wishes, he agreed to manage President George H.W. Bush's reelection campaign in 1992. Baker was secretary of state in the first Bush administration, and treasury secretary and White House chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan. Baker is well-known in the Middle East from his travels as secretary of state. Administration officials said he would add stability to a process that has been much more chaotic than the administration had hoped, with U.S. troops continuing to suffer casualties from guerrilla attacks. Baker's stature with foreign governments also could help the administration enlist more help in paying for the reconstruction. Bremer was part of an earlier overhaul that dismayed some native Iraqi leaders. Bremer, who appeared with Bush on Wednesday as part of a Washington visit, arrived in Baghdad on May 12 to take over for retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner. In another augmentation of the post-war structure, the administration plans to name Reuben Jeffrey III as Washington-based coordinator for the Iraq reconstruction effort. Jeffrey, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker who now is coordinating the federal aid aimed to help reconstruct lower Manhattan, would become the administration's public face for Bremer's operation in Baghdad, including dealing with lawmakers and managing the interagency process. Officials said the White House concluded that, given the distance between Baghdad and Washington, Bremer needed someone senior in Washington who could navigate the bureaucracy and deal with Capitol Hill. Bush named Jeffrey special adviser for lower Manhattan development in March 2002. Jeffery had worked at Goldman for 18 years, living and working in Paris, London and New York and specializing in the financial services sector. He previously practiced corporate law at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. Staff writer Vernon Loeb contributed to this report.