Russia, France and others want the US to make sure Iraqis have a major say in their future before endorsing any UN resolution on the official end of the occupation, diplomats said on Wednesday.
Both countries are engaged in talks among the 15 UN Security Council members, organized by the US and ally Britain, to discuss concepts for a resolution that would endorse an interim Iraqi government to take office on June 30.
No text was circulated on Wednesday at the second informal meeting, in order not to interfere with complex talks currently conducted in Baghdad by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on the form of a caretaker government. It is to be in office until elections planned for January, 2005.
But so far there is little rancor reminiscent of the split over endorsing the US-led invasion of Iraq last year, which France, Russia, Germany, China and others opposed.
Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Russia's first deputy foreign minister, told the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper Moscow would be prepared to vote for the resolution if it meets Iraqi interests "100 percent."
France, on the other hand, fears a resolution would not bypass who would control what, with the US-led coalition still holding onto military and police power. Its officials have told council members the measure is among the most important ever adopted on Iraq.
It is "extremely important" the Security Council's resolution defines "the framework for the transfer and the political reconstruction of Iraq," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said in Brussels on Monday.
"We are trying to persuade the Americans to agree to a real transfer of sovereignty," he said, adding that a new Iraqi government "must have its say on security matters."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in New York last week, proposed two resolutions, diplomats said.
The first would be adopted to support whatever caretaker government Brahimi might devise. The second one could be passed before or after the June 30 handover but with input from the new government.
Few council members have signed up to this concept but China backed it at Wednesday's meeting, envoys said.
Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram, this month's council president, however, said his country was "pragmatic on exactly how it is done as long as the transfer is made, it is legal and it is acceptable to the Iraqi people."
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS