Iraq Government Talks Off to Slow Start

NPR | By Linda Wertheimer,

Published April 19, 2003 at 12:00 AM EDT

Efforts to gather a new goverment are under way in Iraq, but the process is slowed by the diversity of competing interests. Shia leaders were absent from a meeting in Nasiriyah this week, saying they wouldn't take part in talks led by the U.S. military. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer and NPR's Mike Shuster.

Linda Wertheimer

As NPR's senior national correspondent, Linda Wertheimer travels the country and the globe for NPR News, bringing her unique insights and wealth of experience to bear on the day's top news stories.

See stories by Linda Wertheimer

Mike Shuster

Mike Shuster is an award-winning diplomatic correspondent and roving foreign correspondent for NPR News. He is based at NPR West, in Culver City, CA. When not traveling outside the U.S., Shuster covers issues of nuclear non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and the Pacific Rim.

See stories by Mike Shuster