UN Security Council nations gave a generally positive response to the US-British blueprint for a post-occupation Iraqi government but several demanded greater Iraqi control over security and the US-led multinational force that will try to restore stability.
The introduction of a draft resolution on Monday by Iraq's occupying powers set the stage for intense negotiations with longtime critics of the war such as France and Germany, who are demanding that Iraq's interim government be the key decision-maker on security issues.
The US and Britain unveiled the long-awaited plan hours before US President George W. Bush said in a nationally televised address that US forces would stay in Iraq until it was free and democratic.
The resolution is an attempt by the Bush administration to win international backing for its post-occupation plans, which have been severely shaken by violence. With approval ratings sinking after repeated setbacks in Iraq, Bush is seeking to rebuild support at home.
Under the resolution, the multinational force would be authorized to take "all necessary measures" to maintain security and prevent terrorism, while no mention is made of the Iraqi army -- except the need for training.
The mandate for US-led forces in Iraq would be reviewed after a year -- or even earlier if a transitional government due to take power after January elections requests it. But US deputy ambassador James Cunningham said the US will keep its promise "that we will leave if there's a request from the government to leave," which he called highly unlikely.
Council members said one of the major concerns raised during closed-door discussions after the resolution was introduced on Monday was the question of whether sovereignty is really being restored -- or whether the occupation would continue under another guise.
Many in Iraq and in Europe fear that the interim government will not be seen as legitimate if it doesn't have a credible voice in the operations of armed forces on its own soil.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the new Iraqi government "must be able to make decisions over security issues or else it won't be truly sovereign."
NO `SOVEREIGNTY LITE'
Human Rights Watch criticized the draft resolution, saying the US and Britain will retain ultimate responsibility for security and human rights and Iraq's new interim leaders will not have full authority to govern the country.
"There is no such thing as `sovereignty lite,'" said Kenneth Roth, the organization's executive director.
But Cunningham and British UN ambassador Emyr Jones Parry insist that the resolution will return all sovereignty to the Iraqis -- and they argued that neither the US, Britain nor the Security Council should be dictating to a sovereign Iraq what it should and shouldn't do.
With the June 30 transfer of sovereignty looming, Washington and London decided to start negotiations on the 2,400-word resolution, even though UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is still working on the makeup of the interim government. Key areas of the text will need to be filled in after Brahimi returns and the interim government is established -- including how it will co-ordinate with the multinational force.
US and British officials said once the government is formed, the multinational force commander will be expected to send a letter spelling out how the force will relate to the interim government. The new Iraqi leadership is also expected to send a letter welcoming the Security Council resolution and UN help in the political process, and agreeing that the multinational force should remain in Iraq, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A British official said London hopes the letters will create a National Security Committee on which Iraqis would sit, giving them veto power over major military operations -- like last month's offensive in Fallujah that outraged many Iraqis. Germany has called for such a council as a vehicle for sharing power.
In Baghdad, Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Kurd member of the Governing Council, said multinational forces should be under UN command -- a possibility ruled out by the US and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"If that is not possible, then the Iraqi side must play an important role," Othman told the Arab TV station al-Jazeera. "Why cannot we have a joint command, Iraqi-American? Why only American? ... This is important to Iraqis."
OWNERSHIP
German UN ambassador Gunter Pleuger called the draft "a good basis of discussion" and said "we will have to make sure that this process provides Iraqi ownership for the political process as well as for the process of economic reconstruction."
A French diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the mood "constructive," but said the US would not be given "a blank check" in Iraq.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier meanwhile said the US-British draft resolution needed more work. "It is a draft -- a draft which should be discussed and improved," Barnier said after talks in Paris with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Barnier told reporters that Paris seeks a timeline for handing over control of the Iraqi armed forces. The Iraqi government should "in time" have "authority over police forces and the Iraqi army," he said.
For its part, China said it was premature to discuss sending Chinese troops to the country.
"We are carefully studying the draft resolution on Iraq presented by the United States and Britain," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (
Asked if China would contribute troops to a multinational force, Liu said: "On the question you raise, right now it is still too early to discuss it."
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