The Hindu : U.S. draft sets deadline for Iraq polls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2003

International

International

U.S. draft sets deadline for Iraq polls

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington OCT. 14. The United States has circulated yet another version of its draft Iraq resolution in the United Nations Security Council; but the first word is that it has still some distance to cover before members sign on.

The draft that is unofficially doing the rounds speaks of the Bush administration making some changes to its earlier version. The main change is that the Iraqi leaders will have a December 15 deadline to set a timetable for a constitution and elections in cooperation with the occupation authority and a representative of the United Nations. But what countries such as France, Russia and Germany are looking for is a firm schedule for ending occupation and the latest draft does not have it. Three veto-holding members of the Council along with the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, had called for the setting up of a provisional Iraq government within months.

The draft resolution — the third in this series — has not made any changes as far as the role of a multinational force in Iraq. The command centre would be widened but the force would still be led by an American General.

The Bush administration, according to one version, has not extensively altered the role of the U.N. in Iraq either under the proposed new scheme of things — the role of the world body is said to have been "enhanced" but still confined primarily to the drafting of the new constitution and running the elections. This has again set in motion a doubt as to whether Mr. Annan will sign on to the deal paving the way for the return of U.N. staff to Iraq.

Washington is keen that a vote on this new resolution should be out of the way by the time the donors' meeting gets under way in Madrid next week. One unofficial deadline for the Security Council vote seems to be this Wednesday.

What is being emphasised in many quarters in New York and here is that while the U.S. may be able to get the required nine votes for the resolution to be passed and may even have it without any vetoes, this kind of scenario would signal political weakness which would have its share of implications. Washington would be extremely pleased if all of the Permanent Members went along with the resolution.

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