Former US counter-terrorism official to head transition in Iraq

(3 May 2003) APTN FILE - 5 June 2000 1. Wide of news conference with L. Paul Bremer speaking 1. SOUNDBITE (English) L. Paul Bremer: "The most important finding is that the threat of international terrorism is becoming more deadly and terrorist organisations are becoming more diffuse, more difficult to detect, to penetrate and to disrupt." 2. Cutaway of helicopter flying overhead during drill 3. SOUNDBITE (English) L. Paul Bremer: "I'm saying what the government needs to do is to think ahead before you have an attack and we're talking now about an attack that might create tens of thousands of casualties. Somebody is going to walk into the Oval Office and say, 'Mr. President, the only people who can deal with this in terms of getting people on the ground, dealing with the consequences of such a major attack, is the Department of Defense.'" STORYLINE: The U.S. administration has chosen L. Paul Bremer, a former head of the State Department's counter terrorism office, to become civilian administrator in Iraq and oversee the country's transition to democratic rule. Bremer's selection, disclosed Wednesday by a senior U.S. official, will put him in charge of a transition team that includes retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner and Zalmay Khalilzad, the special White House envoy in the Persian Gulf region. When Bremer spoke to journalists during a news conference on June 5. 2000, he was chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism. He was appointed that position by House Speaker Dennis Hastert in 1999. Bremer eventually left the State Department after 23 years. He had been an assistant to former secretaries William P. Rogers and Henry Kissinger, before going on to join Kissinger Associates, a consulting firm. Currently, Bremer serves as chairman and chief executive of Marsh Crisis Consulting company. His new position - overseeing the transition from rule by Saddam Hussein to Iraqi opponents of the deposed president is a tricky assignment, in which U.S. President George W. Bush's administration is playing an aggressive role while also declaring it is up to Iraqi groups to choose a new government. Newsweek magazine first reported Bremer's selection on its Web site Wednesday. The report was confirmed by a senior U.S. official who declined otherwise to be identified. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...