June 30, 2004

Here is Zeyad on the surprise handover:

I was on the road back to Baghdad on the 28th when the transfer of authority to the Iraqi interim government was announced. Since I was exhausted and starving from the long road, I was therefore more interested in gobbling up my lunch of tishreeb and rice than the ceremonies on tv at the bustling restaurant near Kut. I thought it was a wise decision to announce the event two days before it was planned so I wasn't much surprised, though some people argue that it spoiled the whole thing. Actually, it took the unguarded Arab media by complete surprise, and I swear I could notice their confusion since it was very obvious that they hadn't yet prepared anything to downplay the significance of the event.

And here is compelling series of photographs and impressions from random Iraqi people featured on the BBC website (via Norm):

"May god keep Bush and Allawi, because Bush threw out Saddam and Allawi will give us safety and security.

"I think we should try and execute Saddam. He took our sons! He took my two sons from their colleges 25 years ago. I never heard from them again."

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