PUTRAJAYA, Oct 14: Foreign ministers at the world’s biggest gathering of Muslim countries reacted coolly on Tuesday to a new US draft resolution on Iraq, saying it would not hand over enough power to the United Nations.

But US ally Jordan said the draft would be good for the Iraqi people and the Muslim world.

Officials at the meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference expressed frustration at feeling sidelined during the international debate leading to the US-led invasion of Iraq, and some expressed little hope for getting what they want now — a quick handover to a UN administration in Iraq.

“If we look back at the Security Council debates, we must be pessimistic,” Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said in an interview on Tuesday.

“They have debated international law, the balance of power and everything else under the sun, except what Iraq needs. We hope these things will be reversed this time,” he said.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri expressed cautious optimism.

“I have not looked at the details, but anything which encourages sovereignty for the people of Iraq is a positive thing,” he said.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar cautiously welcomed the revised draft, saying “an end date is better than an open situation.”

“But what is most important is that they should bring in the United Nations to play the central role, otherwise there will still be a lot of problems in Iraq,” Mr Albar said.

“The United Nations should be the one to supervise, undertake the whole exercise,” he added. “Then it will be easier for it to have international legitimacy and the support of the international community.”

Musa Braiza, a senior official in Jordan’s foreign ministry, was more optimistic. If the plan was approved and implemented in good faith, “it will be very good for the Iraqi people, the region and the Muslim world,” Mr Braiza said.—APP