UN moves to legitimize Iraq's interim regime

Over Arab objections, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution welcoming the Iraqi Governing Council, a move the US hopes will lead to international engagement with the US-appointed body.

The US-sponsored resolution approved Thursday also authorizes a new UN mission to oversee the world body's efforts to help rebuild Iraq and establish a democratic government.

The vote was 14-0, with Syria saying it abstained to reflect the Arab League's position against any endorsement of the 25-member Iraqi council.

"Syria and all Arab states believe in the necessity of ending the occupation of Iraq and in the formation of a national and a legitimate Iraqi government as expeditiously as possible," said Syria's UN Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe. "Only the people of Iraq can give legitimacy to the Governing Council."

Nearly five months after the deeply divided Security Council refused to authorize the US-led war on Iraq, the occupation of the country by the US and Britain remains a sensitive issue, especially for Arab nations.

But the nearly unanimous approval of the resolution showed a broad acceptance of the Governing Council as a transitional body. The council is broadly representative of the key constituencies in Iraq -- Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds -- and was created as a transition to a more permanent government.

The US reached agreement on the text with the four other permanent Security Council members -- Russia, China, Britain and France -- before the draft was presented Wednesday to the 10 non-permanent members. Seven countries signed on as cosponsors of the resolution -- Britain, Spain, Cameroon, Guinea, Bulgaria, Chile and Angola.

"This resolution hastens the day when the people of Iraq are in full command of their own affairs, a condition they have not known for some three decades," said US Ambassador John Negroponte, expressing satisfaction at the vote. "It also sends a clear signal to those who oppose the political transformation under way in Iraq that they are out of step with world opinion."

Negroponte said the Security Council's welcome for the Governing Council "is a reaffirmation of the fact that the Governing Council is an entity with which the rest of the international community and the United Nations can engage."

Last week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan chided the Security Council for failing to say anything about the Governing Council after three of its members addressed a meeting of the UN council on July 22. "It doesn't send a very good message," Annan said.

Annan also urged the council to formally establish a mission in Iraq to provide a structure for UN operations. Last month, he proposed that the mission include more than 300 civilian staff dealing with humanitarian, political, reconstruction and other issues.

Negroponte said Washington drafted the resolution in response to Annan's call for action.

The resolution "welcomes the establishment of the broadly representative Governing Council of Iraq on July 13, 2003, as an important step towards the formation by the people of Iraq of an internationally recognized, representative government that will exercise the sovereignty of Iraq."

The resolution approved Thursday makes no mention of a broader UN mandate in Iraq.