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Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

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International

Security Council endorses new Iraqi government

NEW YORK, JUNE 9. The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a U.S. resolution on Tuesday endorsing a new sovereign Iraqi government that will take power at the end of this month.

The 15-0 consensus, reached after weeks of negotiations and a last-minute compromise by the United States, is the first broad agreement the United States and its supporters have reached on Iraq with France, Germany, Russia and other Council members since last year's rupture over a U.N. resolution to authorise the war.

The resolution defines the powers of the interim Iraqi Government and backs the transfer of sovereignty. While authorising the U.S.-led multinational force to stay in Iraq to maintain security, the resolution says the Iraqi government can ask that force to leave.

``The Government in Iraq will have the final say on the presence of the multinational force,'' said John Negroponte, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

The endorsement comes 14 months after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and gives a boost to the new Iraqi Government, which faces questions about its legitimacy from abroad and violent turmoil at home. The Government was assembled by the United States and Iraqi allies and endorsed by a U.N. envoy.

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, said in a letter to the Security Council that the people of Iraq are committed to ``complete the political transition process to establish a free, and democratic Iraq and to be a partner in preventing and combating terrorism.''

``As we enter a critical new stage, regain full sovereignty and move toward elections, we will need the assistance of the international community,'' Allawi said.

France and Germany, among the sharpest critics of the U.S. decision to invade Iraq, dropped objections to the resolution after a last-minute change giving Iraqi leaders control over their own troops and a voice on certain offensive operations by the U.S.-led multinational force. However, Iraqis would not be able to block major military actions by that force.

The resolution, co-sponsored by Britain, was the fifth version since May 24. Several Council members had opposed the earlier drafts.

Algeria, the only Arab nation on the Council, had sought more Iraqi control over its own military and multinational force operations. The U.S. agreed that the mandate for the multinational force would expire ``upon the completion of the political process'' or in 2006, earlier if the Iraqis so request.

While the resolution says the interim government can ask the multinational force to leave, Mr. Allawi said, ``Until we are able to provide security for ourselves, including the defence of Iraq's land, sea and air space, we ask for the support of the Security Council and the international community.''

Currently, 138,000 American soldiers and 24,000 troops from coalition partners are serving in Iraq. The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that the resolution would improve the security situation in Iraq by changing the perception of the U.S.-led multinational force.

The French Foreign Minister, Michel Barnier, said his country would have preferred a clearer definition of the relationship between the multinational force and the new Iraqi government. However, he said, the resolution was a step forward and included many French ideas.

``The Americans clearly understood, after months and months of military operations, that there was no way out by arms, by military operations in Iraq,'' he said. ``There was a real dialogue for the first time in this affair.''

In Berlin, the German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, said he hopes ``that now there will finally be a stabilisation of the security situation in Iraq.''

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, following a meeting with Mr. Bush at the summit, called the U.N. endorsement ``a major step forward'' and congratulated Mr. Bush on getting the resolution passed. He noted that up to now, the U.S. has borne the burden for overseeing the mission in Iraq. ``Now it will be the Iraqi government.''

— New York Times News Service

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