US faces opposition over mly control: Draft resolution on power transfer
UNITED NATIONS, May 25: The United States faced misgivings from other UN Security Council members on Tuesday over the powers and length of stay of a US-led force when authority is handed over to an Iraqi interim government on June 30.
China, France, Germany and Russia signalled that they wanted changes to a US-British drafted resolution on Iraq's transition. "It is a draft - a draft which should be discussed and improved," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said in Paris. French President Jacques Chirac called President George Bush to say sovereignty must be "real" and perceived as such by Iraqis themselves.
The resolution presented to the Security Council members on Monday is an integral part of Bush's plan for stabilizing Iraq and creating a democratic state there. Bush is striving to gain greater international support for that plan.
The resolution would endorse the formation of a sovereign interim Iraqi government but allow US-led forces to take "all necessary measures" to keep the peace and fight terrorism.
UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, now in Baghdad, is due to name a president, a prime minister, two vice presidents and 26 ministers soon. They would stay in office until elections for a national assembly, expected by January next year.
Before the 15-nation council resumes negotiations on the draft on Wednesday. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to update ambassadors on Mr Brahimi's negotiations.
Several council members said they expected the resolution on Iraq's transition to be adopted with some changes before June 30. "I do not expect any fight," said Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria, the only Arab member of the council. "All of us are in a constructive mood. We want the transition to succeed."
Some nations, including France and Germany, want an expiration date set for the multinational force and then the right to renew the force if Iraq agrees, their envoys said.
The draft now calls for a review in a year, which means the force's mandate is open-ended unless the council adopts another resolution to withdraw the foreign troops. Publicly, US and British leaders say they would take their troops out of Iraq if its leaders wanted them to, but this is not a part of the resolution.
In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Iraqis would have to consent to a major US-led military operation and that this would be spelled out in an exchange of letters to be attached to the resolution.
"If there's a political decision as to whether you go into a place like Falluja in a particular way, that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government," Blair said in reference to recent US attacks on rebels in that city.
China's UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, said he and other council envoys would suggest changes to the text. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said earlier that a new Iraqi government "must be able to make decisions over security issues, or it won't be truly sovereign".
Still, the German foreign minister told reporters that the draft "was a very good basis on which we aim for consensus". Another problem is whether Iraqi troops could refuse combat orders from a US-led force. But US officials said this would be incorporated into a letter, attached to the resolution, from the new Iraqi leaders and the US command.
Russia had wanted a two-step resolution, one to endorse the interim government and another to get its input on all other issues, but envoys said there was no time. -Reuters
