So, the Iraqi Governing Council which was hand-picked by the U.S. decides to hand-pick Iyad Allawi for the post of prime minister of the transitional "fully sovereign" government. Bremer attended the session of the GC that picked Allawi and congratulated him.
Chief U.N. spokesperson, Fred Eckhard, says that the U.N. is surprised but "respects" the choice but "it's not how we expected it to happen." Eckhard also said that, "In the end, it's the Governing Council and the (U.S.-led coalition) that will make the decision."
>"Mr. Brahimi respects the decision and is prepared to work with
>this person on the selection of the other posts in this interim government,"
>Eckhard told reporters, adding that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
>Annan (news - web sites) also respected the choice and the word
>"respects" had been "a carefully chosen word."
>"I assume this choice will hold, but the process isn't over yet," he said.
>"Let wait to see what the Iraqi street has to say about this name."
[...] Meanwhile, senior U.S. officials in Baghdad were apparently concerned that the Governing Council, which is supposed to have picked him, would learn of "their" pick through the media:
>BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The momentum for a vote by the Iraqi
>Governing Council on the newly designated prime minister came about
>in the last 24 hours after it became clear that Iyad Allawi enjoyed a
>"strong groundswell" of support, a senior U.S. official in Baghdad said.
>Officials also feared his name would be leaked to the news media --
>that the council might learn the selection "from CNN," said the official,
>who was intricately familiar with the process.
[...] Links to CIA? Hand-picked by the body hand-picked by Bremer who was hand-picked by Bush? Current bogeyman Chalabi's blood relative? No political support within the country? Responsible for the infamous "WMDs operational within 45 minutes" claim?
No, no, no. Here's the correct description of the process, coming from the same official who was worried that the choice would leak prematurely to the Governing Council:
>"It is a historic moment," this official said. "This has been a process of
>full-blown democratic politics."