UN resists calls for extra troops

The United States has pushed for a new UN resolution that would encourage countries to send troops to Iraq, but quickly encountered resistance from key Security Council members demanding greater control.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who met UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan after the devastating attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, said he was exploring a new Security Council resolution that "might encourage others" to support the struggling US and British effort to stabilise the country.

In Baghdad, where rescue efforts continued two days after the truck bomb killed 24 people, the US military confirmed the capture of Saddam Hussein's feared cousin, "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid, No. 5 on a list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqi fugitives.

His capture, the second of a senior Iraqi leader this week, fuelled US hopes its forces might be closing in on Saddam Hussein.

The top UN envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was killed in the blast and his spokesman, Salim Lone, said, "We hope until the bitter end to find someone, but it does not look good at this stage." Annan told Baghdad staff in a recorded message: "The ache in our souls is almost too much to bear."

A previously unknown Islamist group, the "Armed Vanguards of the Second Mohammed Army", claimed responsibility for the suspected suicide bombing, Dubai-based Arabic television channel Al Arabiya reported.

The US seized on the bombing to try again to get international help in Iraq, where ambushes and sabotage have continued.

Army General John Abizaid, the head of US Central Command, told a Pentagon briefing that attacks of "growing sophistication" had become the main threat for US-led forces.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said during a visit to UN headquarters in New York that no one should doubt now that "terrorism is not just against the United States or against the United Kingdom or against Israel".

"This is a war against the world, and attacking the United Nations was an attack on the international community, on the world, and it's an attack on the people of Iraq," he said.

The United States wants countries to commit more troops to Iraq to provide security for humanitarian work despite its insistence on remaining firmly in control of the occupation and reconstruction of the country.

One purpose of a new resolution would be to get Muslim troops into Iraq, from Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries, as well as forces from India and other countries that have refused to send soldiers without UN authorisation.

Powell said about 30 countries besides the United States have contributed 22,000 troops, and more were expected.

But France immediately said Washington would have to broaden the political role of the United Nations if it wanted other nations to pitch in.

"To share the burden and the responsibilities in a world of equal and sovereign nations, also means sharing information and authority," French envoy Michel Duclos told a Security Council discussion.

"This political transition will have a greater chance of success if it is guided by the Iraqis themselves with the assistance not of the occupation forces but of the international community as a whole," he said.

Russia's UN Ambassador Sergei Lavrov agreed, and German envoy Wolfgang Trautwein called for a "wider UN role in the political field" as well as "broader military co-operation". All three countries opposed the invasion of Iraq.

Annan thought that despite differences among Security Council members, there was a willingness to see Iraq stabilised.

"I think the issue of Iraq is of great concern to everybody, regardless of the divisions that existed before the war," Annan said in reference to the refusal by the Security Council to authorise the invasion of Iraq.

Annan vowed the United Nations would stay in Iraq and continue its work but operations were expected to resume today with a reduced staff.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq