The 15-nation UN Security Council was called into a special session yesterday to analyze letters from Baghdad's new leader and the US command on military operations, diplomats said.
The US, after three revisions on a resolution on Iraq's future, may also present what it hopes will be a final draft. Security Council ambassadors went on a retreat on Saturday to discuss the resolution.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he expected a breakthrough after Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi sent a letter to the UN on Saturday.
The letter is to set down how the military operation can be subject to a review, should the US want to engage in a major operation that Iraq's new leaders do not like.
Iraq has already said it did not want a veto over US military actions, and Powell has said there was no chance they would get one. But Iraqi officials have made clear they want a say in any large campaign by the US-led multinational force, as they believe their influence can prevent unnecessary bloodshed, like that in Fallujah.
No vote has been scheduled and none was expected yesterday or today, although the US and Britain, sponsors of the resolution, would like one in the coming week.
Members wanted to hear first from Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy who helped form the interim government that is to stay in office until elections for a transitional government, expected by January 2005. Brahimi briefs the council on Monday.
The resolution would give international endorsement to an Iraqi interim government that takes office on June 30 and authorize a US-led multinational force to use "all necessary means" to keep the peace.
The presence of 160,000 foreign soldiers has given several Security Council members second thoughts, apprehensive they would be endorsing an occupation under another name.
Russia, in particular, has hesitated in backing the resolution, saying the council should hear from Arab nations first and not carry the burden alone in approving the new government.
KINGPIN: Marset allegedly laundered the proceeds of his drug enterprise by purchasing and sponsoring professional soccer teams and even put himself in the starting lineups Notorious Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset, who eluded police for years, was handed over to US authorities after his arrest on Friday in Bolivia. Marset, a Uruguayan national who was on the US most-wanted list, was passed to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration at Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia, then put on a US airplane, Bolivian state television showed. “The arrest and deportation were carried out pursuant to a court order issued by the US justice system,” Bolivian Minister of Government Marco Antonio Oviedo told reporters. The alleged kingpin was arrested in an upscale neighborhood of Santa
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
SCANDAL: Other images discovered earlier show Andrew bent over a female and lying across the laps of a number of women, while Mandelson is pictured in his underpants A photograph of former British prince Andrew and veteran politician Peter Mandelson sitting in bathrobes alongside late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unearthed on Friday in previously published documents. The image is believed to be the first known photograph of the two men with Epstein. They are currently engulfed in scandal in the UK over their ties to their mutual friend. The undated photograph, first reported by ITV News, shows King Charles III’s disgraced brother and former British ambassador to the US sitting barefoot outside on a wooden deck. They appear to have mugs with a US flag on them
NASA on Thursday said that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the moon in more than 50 years, could come as soon as April 1. “We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date,” Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, told a news conference, after technical difficulties delayed a launch originally expected last month. “It’s a test flight, and it is not without risk, but our team and our hardware are ready,” she said. “Just keep in mind we still have work” to do. The US space
RSS