- She has held some of the hardest jobs of any American
diplomat, yet Barbara Bodine may be about to take on her toughest challenge
yet.
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- Ms Bodine is to become the US co-ordinator for central
Iraq, assuming a position that will make her responsible for Baghdad. She
arrived in the Iraqi capital yesterday with retired Lieutenant-General
Jay Garner, the man who is heading the civilian administration for the
entire country.
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- She immediately placed herself at the centre of controversy,
saying America did not recognise the Iraqi diplomat who has proclaimed
himself the mayor of Baghdad.
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- Last week, Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi, the deputy head
of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), claimed he had been elected head
of an interim council to run the city. Over the weekend he announced that
22 individual committees had been established to oversee the various aspects
of Baghdad's civil administration.
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- But yesterday Ms Bodine, 54, said that Washington did
not recognise Mr Zubaidi, despite the close links some elements of the
Bush administration have had with the INC leader, Ahmed Chalabi.
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- "We don't really know much about him except that
he's declared himself mayor. We don't recognise him," she said. "There
hasn't been a process of selection. Once there's a process, then whomever."
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- She also said she did not think that Mr Zubaidi could
lead an Iraqi delegation to the emergency meeting of the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) starting on Thursday in Vienna.
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- "He can't," she added. "I don't think
Opec would take him. We wouldn't prevent him but I would find it odd that
Opec would accept him as a representative."
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- Ms Bodine, a former US ambassador to Yemen, is no stranger
to controversy. Having served in Baghdad in the 1980s, she was in Kuwait
in 1991 when several US diplomats were taken hostage before the 1991 Gulf
War. She was among those who were held for 137 days.
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- A life-long Arabist, Ms Bodine was reportedly elected
to General Garner's Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance
(ORHA) having been given positive backing from the Pentagon, which has
been sceptical of many from the State Department.
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- One of her most challenging roles was as the US ambassador
to Yemen. During her watch the USS Cole was struck by al-Qa'ida terrorists,
killing 17 sailors while it was docked in Yemen.
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- Mr Bodine, who will be one of three Iraqi sector heads,
is originally from St Louis.
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- http://news.indepe ndent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=399348
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