WASHINGTON, Sept 29: The United States, in a new draft UN resolution on Iraq, will lay out a new “political horizon” to put Iraqis back in control of the country and give a bigger political role to the United Nations, a US official said on Monday.

The resolution, which US Secretary of State Colin Powell predicted will be ready within the next few days, answers European complaints that a previous US draft was too vague about how Iraqis could replace US occupation authorities.

The United States wants the UN Security Council to pass the resolution in time for a conference of donors of aid to Iraq, scheduled to open in Madrid on Oct. 23, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

“Certainly having it before Madrid would make Madrid work a lot easier and a lot better,” he told a daily briefing.

The current draft, circulated earlier this month, invites the Iraqi Governing Council to offer a timetable for drafting a new constitution and holding democratic elections.

But the United States did not call for a vote on it in the Security Council because France, Russia and Germany did not think it ceded enough power to Iraqis and the United Nations.

Mr Boucher said: “The goal is to respond in some ways to the desire of other governments to have a sense ... of movement and momentum toward that political horizon, so we will be making appropriate modifications.”

SHARING THE BURDEN: Another US official said: We’re trying to craft language that doesn’t get too specific but could probably mention the constitution and elections and specifying how the United Nations would be involved. It’s a response to the comments that the French have made.”