Clinton says US should not dominate Iraq

DUBAI - Former US President Bill Clinton said on Sunday that the United States should not try to dominate Iraq and needed to give the United Nations a greater role in restoring security to the war-torn country.

"We should play a role and spend a lot of money there, but we shouldn't dominate," Clinton said during a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates.

"What we need is for the UN to nominally supervise the security situation and Nato to be used as an instrument," he said during a question-and-answer session at the American University of Dubai, where he launched a scholarship programme.

"This will enable us to spread both the responsibility and the risks and make it look less like an occupation," he added.

The United States, whose troops in Iraq suffer almost daily casualties from guerrilla attacks, is trying to push through a new UN resolution creating a multinational force for Iraq.

But France and Germany have argued that a US-written draft resolution does not cede enough control to the United Nations.

Clinton also urged Israel to be prepared to make major concessions to the Palestinians if it wanted peace, including giving up Palestinian territories it occupied in the 1967 war.

"Israel ought to be prepared to give up the West Bank and East Jerusalem. International forces should be invited to enforce agreements and see through a transitional period."

"Both sides have to make a big decision: do they want a deal or not? In the end they have to adopt the final agreements put on the table," he added.

While in office, Clinton sealed a landmark peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, but the peace process has since been derailed.

President George W Bush helped launch a "road map" to Middle East peace, but it has floundered in the face of continuing Israeli-Palestinian violence.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq