The United States is scheduled to hand over power to an interim Iraqi government at midnight on June 30.

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McClellan, talking to reporters on Air Force One, said the storage site was the responsibility of the interim Iraqi government, not the United States, as of the June 28 transfer of power.

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The coalition does not have sovereign authority and has no authority to bring into being an interim Iraqi Government with such authority, or to create a constitutional process leading to the election of a sovereign government.

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Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the interim Iraqi government reported to the agency several days ago in a letter that the explosives were missing from the Al Qaqaa complex south of Baghdad.

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Annan said further discussions would take place before he decided whether to send such a team, but he expressed doubts that direct elections could be held in time for a planned handover to an interim Iraqi government this (northern hemisphere) summer.

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Mr Chalabi, who has been flown into southern Iraq with 700 American-trained fighters, complained that Jay Garner, a retired American general chosen to run an interim Iraqi government, had not yet arrived in the country, and said that faster action was needed to restore electricity and water supplies, and to supply humanitarian aid.

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Ms al-Suwaij says she has been asked to help rebuild the Iraqi education system, advising the US interim government team that will take over the education ministry.

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