The Wayback Machine

November 13, 2003.

(11-13) 04:00 PST Washington — 2003-11-13 04:00:00 PST Washington -- The Bush administration plans to support the creation of a reconstituted governing body in Iraq that will assume a large degree of sovereignty by next summer -- a move that could lead to a relinquishing of control by the U.S.-led occupation before the 2004 presidential election.

The decision was reached after two days of hastily organized talks at the White House with Paul Bremer, the U.S. governor in Iraq, in an attempt to accelerate the political transition -- one of two prerequisites, along with security, for the eventual American withdrawal from Iraq.