Key UN nations want changes in new Iraq resolution

UNITED NATIONS - Iraq's foreign minister on Thursday faces a UN Security Council divided over how much authority Baghdad should have over US troops when an interim Iraqi government takes office on June 30.

France, Russia and China say an amended draft of a US-British resolution on Iraq's future is still too vague over what sovereignty means after the US-led occupation officially ends. Russia in particular wants to see the reaction of Iraqis to the new government before a vote on the measure.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said he intended to help shape the resolution when he addresses the 15-nation council at an open meeting on Thursday afternoon.

"This is a very important resolution for us. And definitely we need to have our own input," he told reporters after arriving on Wednesday.

The aim of the resolution is get international endorsement for the formation of an interim Iraqi government and to authorise a US-led multinational force, which would be empowered to take "all necessary measures" to keep the peace.

One of the main concerns among council members is that the draft does not spell out whether the Iraqi military can refuse an offensive action ordered by the US-led force of 130,000 troops.

Instead it relegates co-ordination to side letters. US officials have said that would be decided by Iraqis and the US Command as equal partners.

"We need to have clarity on the way the multinational force is going to operate in Iraq and we definitely think the Iraqi government should have an important say in all decisions regarding its operations," said Abdallah Baali, Algeria's UN ambassador and the council's only Arab delegate.

However, US Ambassador John Negroponte said the measure needed only "fine-tuning" and that he expected it to be adopted soon. No vote has been set but most envoys expected the resolution to pass, albeit not immediately and with changes.

"Full exercise of sovereignty will be restored to the people and government of Iraq by June 30. I don't have any doubt about that," said Negroponte, who will be the American ambassador in Iraq in July.

The first order of business for Zebari, who has been foreign minister since September, was to meet Negroponte and his British counterpart, Emyr Jones Parry, who hosted a working dinner Wednesday evening for the Iraqi delegation.

Zebari said he had received instructions from the newly named Iraqi leaders, who also concentrated on security concerns at their first cabinet meeting in a US-protected zone.

French President Jacques Chirac said the resolution needed "to affirm and confirm the full sovereignty of the Iraqi government, particularly in the military domain."

Russia has a long list of demands, including wanting two resolutions, one immediately to endorse an interim government and another after it takes office for all other issues.

"The Security Council (must) be certain that the government commands acceptance inside Iraq and outside Iraq, in other words that it is legitimate," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Norway on Tuesday.

The resolution touches on three phases of Iraqi rule: the interim government that takes office on June 30, an elected transitional government that is to be in power by January 2005 and a permanent government after approval of a constitution that is to take office by 2006.

In response to objections to the previous draft, the new version of the resolution stipulates that the mandate of the international force would expire automatically once a permanent Iraqi government takes office, envisaged in 2006.

The original measure had an open-ended mandate, with periodic reviews.

- REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq