No Shia posts lost at interior ministry
(Al-Sabah) – Minister of Interior Sameer al-Sumaidai has denied accusations that any Shia staff have been fired at the Ministry. He said 300 new Shia staff have been assigned to replace people let go following the Coaltion’s de-Baathification decree. Deputy of the Supreme Board of de-Bathification Methal al- Alousi denied any kind of cooperation by the Ministry regarding implementation of the de-Baathication order. To the contrary, the Ministry used some Baathists to support its political works in Iraq. As for last week's assault on the house of Governing Councillor Ahmed Chalabi's, Sumaidai said he had nothing to do with it, and the Ministry is just an executive body for executing orders of the judicial board.
(Al-Sabah is issued daily by the Iraqi Media Network on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority.)

Sistani blames Sadr militia for assault in Najaf
(Al-Ittihad) – Coalition Military Spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said clashes are still going on in Najaf and Kufa. Coalition forces besieged al-Sahla mosque and found quantities of weapons and rockets there. As for Najaf, clashes are concentrated in the Wadi al-Salam cemetery and the square of Thawret al-Ishreen. Mohammed al-Mehri, the deputy for Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, blamed the Sadr militia for the assault on the holy shrine of Imam Ali. Mehri described the militants as trying to pull the Shia population into conflict with the clerics of the Hawza, or religious authority. Some residents, who preferred to remain nameless, said the greatest Shia museum close to the shrine of Imam Ali has been looted by some veiled and foreign bodies. Kimmitt denied that Coalition forces had assaulted Imam Ali shrine.
(Al-Ittihad is published daily by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.)

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Trains to be tracked by satellite
(Al-Qassim al-Mushtarak) – The Assistant Director General of the Iraqi Railway Stations Company Alaa al-Deen Sadik said the company has decided to use a satellite control system and computers on train movements to make Iraq a rail link between Europe, south-east Asia and the Gulf states. Deen said the project will be completed within 6-9 months after contracts are signed with foreign companies. A delegate from the company has gone to the US for training in the use and installation of satellite units.
(Al-Qassim Al-Mushtarak is issued twice a week by Sabhan Mulla Chyad.)

Governing Councillors jockey for position
(Azzaman) – Sources close to UN Envoy Lakdar al-Ibrahimi said the choice of the new government will depend on political and social balances. Ibrahimi might announce the results of his mission next week, while the Shia have not yet decided their opinions with regard to the nomination of specific figures. Ghazi al-Yawir is said to have a greater chance of becoming president than Adnan al-Pachachi. Hussein Al-Shahrestani, whose chance to occupy the post seems the greatest, is among the names nominated for prime minister. The sources added that Barhem Salih, a leading figure of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), went to Washington on a mission related to his nomination as prime minister.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)

Chalabi says US-UK plan falls short of sovereignty
(Al-Mutamar) – Ahmed al-Chalabi said the project presented to the UN Security Council by the US and UK will fall short of sovereignty as Iraqi forces and national resources will be under the control of groups of international officials. He called on the UN to work seriously to regain its credibility in Iraq. He said the new project gives authority to the UN representative to make Iraqi patriotic reconciliation but without referring to the trial of former President Saddam Hussein and his Baathist supporters and completely ignoring victims of the old regime. Assigning Ibrahimi to replace US Administrator L. Paul Bremer III will not solve Iraqi problems, and we will work with other parties and Governing Council members to find the proper atmosphere to regain complete sovereignty from the occupying forces, Chalabi added.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

Bush statement falls short of expectations says Yawir
(Asharq Al-Awsat) – President of the Governing Council Ghazi Ajeel al-Yawir has welcomed the announcement by US President George W. Bush to transfer power to Iraqis by the end of June. But he said the draft does not meet Iraqi expectations, and he hoped thoughts and ideas of the Governing Council will be incorporated in the final document. Yawir criticized two points of the draft. He said that the provisional government should have the right to end the foreign forces existence in Iraq and that the Iraq development fund should be handled by Iraqis. Foreign Minister Hoshiar Zebari said sovereignty should be complete and should be negotiated by the three related bodies: the GC, the Coalition, and the UN.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a pro-Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

Saboteurs short-circuit electricity grid
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed) – An official source in the Ministry of Electricity (ME) said blackouts in many districts of Baghdad are due to sabotage targeting high tension cables. Engineer Haitham Taha, Director General of Power Transformation Nets, said the increase of sabotage on transformation lines and stations in Baghdad and other provinces affected the achievement of the electrical units. He said technical teams had been accused of collaborating with the occupation, and were prevented from undertaking repairs.
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed is an independent daily paper.)