Powell is to seek a new UN resolution on Iraq

WASHINGTON, September 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a delicate meeting in Geneva Saturday, September 13, is to push for a reinforced UN role in Iraq while maintaining firm U.S. control over reconstruction of the war-torn country.

Powell will be meeting with his counterparts of the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France and Russia - and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

He can count on the support of Britain, Washington's closest ally in the war, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

But he will be facing stiff opposition from France and Russia, which, backed by China, have tabled amendments to a U.S. resolution that would water down U.S. prerogatives and shift much of the U.S. say in Iraq to the UN.

The French counter-proposals were drawn up jointly with Germany, a non-permanent member of the security council which, along with Paris and Moscow and, to a lesser degree Beijing, had fervently opposed the war.

U.S. officials have been downplaying the stakes of the Saturday meeting to avoid the impression it will signal a return to the boisterous debates that preceded the invasion.

The White House claimed the French and Germans were not opposed to the idea of a new resolution, and the State Department said Powell and Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov had had a "constructive discussion" on the matter.

"We would expect the discussion (Saturday) to be about the concepts of how we go forward in the resolution and generally with the UN on Iraq, not a negotiation on the text itself," spokesman Richard Boucher said earlier this week.

U.S. diplomats also have been stressing the Geneva meeting would constitute an "informal discussion," and not negotiations on precise measures to be taken in Iraq.

A U.S. plan presented last week includes the creation of a multinational force under UN mandate but U.S. command, aimed at encouraging more countries to send troops to Iraq.

But Washington's capacity to ease its load by sharing political power in Iraq and gaining a greater international contribution, both in troops and cash, remained uncertain.

Even the fact of its again going before the UN, which it ignored when it invaded Iraq, has been seen as an about-face by President George W. Bush's administration, under pressure of the nagging resistance to U.S. troops in Iraq and the skyrocketing cost of keeping them there.

A leading U.S. "hawk," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, assured a Senate committee the United States was ready to share political authority in Iraq with its allies in reconstruction operations.

Washington wants "more international troops to share the burden of providing stability forces," he said. "We're prepared to do what's needed to make it work."

The State Department indicated that Washington had no intention of being shunted aside after having borne the brunt of the military, political and economic effort in Iraq.

"Proposals have to be grounded in the reality of the current situation," said Boucher.

“You can't pretend the war never happened, you can't pretend the coalition never happened, you can't pretend that the Iraqis have not already made considerable progress under the governing council."

The U.S. resolution to be discussed in Geneva "takes as a point of departure the reality of the situation, that the coalition is already working with the governing council, the Iraqis, to move forward toward constitutional elections and also to move forward on the exercise of sovereignty.

"We think that all council members do share essentially the same objective, that's to help Iraq and the Iraqi people exercise their full sovereignty as quickly as possible," he said.

The differences, he said, rest in the steps to be taken to get there.

Japan Hopes For Broader “Cooperation”
  
Within the same context, Japan hopes the international community will offer its cooperation to help with the reconstruction of Iraq, a senior foreign ministry official said Friday, indicating support for a greater UN role.

"Japan would like to welcome the presentation of and debate on a new (UN) resolution ... in order to work for Iraqi reconstruction with the broadest international cooperation possible," said Toshimitsu Motegi, senior vice minister for foreign affairs, according to AFP.

"We hope the draft resolution will be finalized as soon as possible in an appropriate way," he told a lecture meeting at a Tokyo hotel.

Motegi said an unofficial draft resolution comprising 18 paragraphs in English, only reaffirmed a "vital role" for the United Nations.

The permanent members other than the United States "will probably argue it should expand the UN involvement" at the weekend talks, Motegi said.

The fate of the multinational force would not sway Japan's decision on when it will send its troops to Iraq, he said while noting the deployment would not come any time soon due to the need for careful preparations.

U.S. Not Expecting German Troops
   
Meanwhile, Powell said Friday that Washington “is not expecting German troops to take part in any future multinational force in Iraq” and is satisfied that Berlin is playing its role.

"I'm not expecting any German troops," Powell told ARD public television. "Germany is playing its role. We fully understand the German government's position," he said.

Berlin opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which was waged without UN approval, and has been lobbying ever since for the United Nations to return to the fore and be given a central role in rebuilding.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has always opposed sending troops to Iraq but has repeatedly reaffirmed that German troops will continue to play a prominent role in the war against terrorism and international peacekeeping missions.

Germany, after the United States, has the greatest number of troops deployed abroad in peacekeeping operations and in the Horn of Africa as part of the international war on terror.

Berlin has also been careful to try to repair the damage done to its relations with Washington when it opposed the U.S.-led war.

"Germany is contributing in many other ways," Powell acknowledged "in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world as well."

He also said that Washington had never declared the United Nations irrelevant and that the organization has to play a "vital role" in Iraq.