Security council divided over new UN Iraq resolution
The 15 UN Security Council nations had widely disparate reactions to a new resolution proposed by the US to attract more money and troops for Iraq.
France, Germany and Syria criticised it while Britain, Bulgaria, Spain and Chile welcomed it as a positive step.
But even France and Germany called the US proposal a basis for negotiations, and Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was ready to listen to their suggestions and consider any other “constructive input.”
As council members digested the US draft – which Syria, Angola, Cameroon and Guinea only received yesterday – it was clear that the US faced tough negotiations on several key issues.
The draft does not relinquish US political and military control of Iraq.
France, Germany, Russia and other council members want the US-led coalition to transfer political responsibility to an Iraqi government as quickly as possible. Many council nations are also demanding a much stronger UN role, and France would like to see the world body replace the US as Iraq’s interim administrator.
Syria also wants the UN to command the multinational force envisioned in the resolution – not the US.
The five veto-wielding permanent council members – the US, France, Britain, Russia and China – met yesterday afternoon to discuss the draft.
“We are going to negotiate the text,” said France’s UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere. Russia’s UN Ambassador called the session a “friendly discussion”.
An informal meeting of all 15 council ambassadors was scheduled today, and talks were also taking place in capitals.
The draft resolution invites the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to cooperate with the UN and US officials in Baghdad to produce “a timetable and programme for the drafting of a new constitution for Iraq and for the holding of democratic elections”.
But it contains no timeframe, and leaves the key decision in the hands of the Governing Council, which has taken months just to form a Cabinet. The US believes the Iraqis must remain in charge of this process – but France and Germany want more Security Council control.
“We are naturally ready to study it in the most positive manner,” French President Jacques Chirac said after meeting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. “But we are quite far removed from what we believe is the priority objective, which is the transfer of political responsibility to an Iraqi government as quickly as possible.”
Mr Schroeder added: “I agree with the president when he says: Not dynamic enough, not sufficient.”
