Iraq's new Governing Council has held its first meeting in Baghdad.
The US-backed council is the first Iraqi executive body to begin functioning since Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in April.
Its 25 members are drawn from a variety of ethnic and religious groups.
The country's US administrator, Paul Bremer, described the council as a first step towards establishing democratic rule.
Washington is hoping for a reduction in the number of attacks on US troops once Iraqis recognise that authority is being transferred to local leaders.
Explosion outside Baghdad police station
At least one person has been killed and another injured after a explosion outside a police station in Baghdad.
Details about the blast are still emerging but its understood it happened in a western suburb of the Iraqi capital at a station that is sometimes visited by American soldiers.
