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British forces began establishing the first postwar administration in Iraq on Tuesday, putting a local sheik into power in Basra shortly after their troops won a two-week campaign for control of Iraq's second largest city.

Col. Chris Vernon, spokesman for the British forces, said the sheik was a tribal leader. The sheik's name and religious affiliation were not disclosed.

Vernon said the sheik had met British divisional commanders Monday and been asked to set up an administrative committee representing other groups in the southern region. The sheik and his committee were to be the first civilian leadership established in liberated Iraq.

Meanwhile, retired U.S. general Jay Garner, appointed by the Pentagon to form an interim postwar administration for Iraq, was working to define new political institutions for the whole country.

The British will leave the sheik's committee alone to form a local authority, Vernon said, adding that Garner had signed off on the British plan.

"Gen. Garner has come up and spoke to the British divisional commander, and we will be working fully in cooperation with his Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Aid," Vernon said.

A spokesman for Garner, Capt. Nathan Jones, said he had no additional details.

The sheik is a local figure, not an Iraqi exile, Vernon said. The British military had been aware of him for some time and in a two-hour meeting judged him to be capable of setting up a representative body.

The sheik indicated that he could draw on some members of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath party who were not implicated in oppression of the local people, Vernon said. Most of the Baath officials in Basra were outsiders and were detested.

"We have ascertained that he is worthwhile, credible and has authority in the local area, particularly with the tribal chiefs," Vernon said. The sheik will form his committee as he sees fit, "and we will take him at his word on his judgment."

Setting up a national-level administration has become increasingly important as U.S. and British forces have gained control over much of the country, but significant questions remain about the roles of the military, Iraqis and the United Nations in postwar Iraq.

U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a news conference Tuesday in Northern Ireland that they would hand over rule to Iraqis as soon as possible.

"The message from the United States is that Iraqis are plenty capable of running Iraq, and that is what is going to happen," Bush said.

The United Nations would have a role in all aspects of postwar Iraq, from aid or helping to set up an interim authority until elections could be held, Bush said.

In Basra, some local police could help re-establish law and order, Vernon said, but he indicated that for the moment, they would not be allowed to carry weapons. Any Iraqi carrying a gun would be considered an irregular fighter and risked being killed.

The British consider Basra fertile ground to transfer control to civilians quickly, Vernon said. Apart from water shortages, there was no major humanitarian problem.

"This is not a former Yugoslavia; this is not Afghanistan," Vernon told a news briefing. "Basically, what we see in the Basra province is a broadly functioning civil infrastructure, and administration, to a lesser degree."

After nearly two weeks at the city's gates, British troops took over the heart of Basra on Monday with 93 tanks and 70 armored fighting vehicles, using machine guns rather than heavier weapons to reduce civilian casualties, Vernon said.

Vernon acknowledged that there had been looting by residents and said British forces would be shifting from combat to law-and-order work. The resistance from irregular forces "is almost extinguished. Many of them did fight, right until the end."

At least 4,000 prisoners of war were taken in the region in the past two weeks and more were believed to have been captured in the fall of the city.

The final push was preceded by an apparently fatal airstrike Saturday on the home of Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin, who had been dubbed "Chemical Ali" by opponents for ordering a 1988 poison gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds.

photo credit and caption:

A British soldier forces Iraqi men to unload sacks of oats which they allegedly had looted in Basra, Iraq Tuesday April 8, 2003. British forces set up a check point to take back looted food in order to later distribute it to the population. Residents of Basra roamed the streets looting and searching for water and food Tuesday, a day after British forces took control of the town. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

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