“We have incorporated many of the ideas and suggestions that we've heard from others," Boucher

UNITED NATIONS, October 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.N. Security Council launches a new round of talks on Iraq Thursday, October 2, as the U.S. unveiled a new U.N. draft resolution, setting no firm timetable for the transfer of power at the hands of Iraqis, in a fresh bid to persuade reluctant allies to provide more troops and cash to share the burden in the war-ravaged country.

The draft, obtained by media outlets, states that Iraqis should take control of their country "as quickly as practicable" but it includes no deadlines despite pressure from U.N. Security Council members Russia, Germany, and France to speed the U.S. departure from Iraq, CNN reported.

France has said six months should be enough time for the United States to give sovereignty to Iraqis, but Washington said that deadline is "unrealistic".

But the draft states that the administration of Iraq would be "progressively" taken over as the interim Iraqi administration evolves.

The draft, which alters an earlier version that met resistance on the council when presented in September 2003, does invite the U.S.-selected Iraqi Governing Council to set a timetable for creating a new constitution and holding democratic elections, a process that the governing body had said would take one year, CNN reported.

U.S. ambassador John Negroponte released the draft at a meeting with veto-wielding Security Council powers Britain, China, France and Russia. He also gave it to Germany, a current council member.

Larger U.N. Role

The new draft also appears to expand some U.N. responsibilities but does not lay out the central role that France, Germany and Russia have been demanding for the world body in Iraq, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We have incorporated many of the ideas and suggestions that we've heard from others," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

"We have tried to respond to the desire to see more of a sense of movement and momentum on the political process," he said.

But, in another change from an earlier U.S. draft, the new version states that the U.N. should "strengthen its vital role" in Iraq - including providing humanitarian relief, economic reconstruction and helping to set up elections.

The draft resolution also says the United Nations should take up a list of proposed tasks outlined in a report from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, CNN reported.

In addition to helping with elections and a constitution, those tasks include police training, judicial and legal reform, helping to build political structures, delivering humanitarian aid, advancing human rights, and "helping the Iraqi interim administration establish links to other governments."

Likely Approved

In the meanwhile, Security Council diplomats quoted by Washington Post acknowledged this evening that the resolution is certain to be adopted.

French President Jacques Chirac said few days ago that Paris will not veto the U.S.-backed Security Council resolution on the future of Iraq, despite its misgivings.

Russia said it would accept a stage-by-stage handover of power provided the U.N. was given a major political role.

While Chinese President Hu Jintao said his veto-holding country will support a new resolution that was "acceptable to all parties concerned".

Washington wants the resolution to give an international mandate for a multinational force - in which other nations would share the burden of an increasingly bloody guerrilla-style resistance attacks.

Three U.S. soldier were killed in separate attacks on Wednesday, October 1, taking the toll to 88 in five months.

‘Unlikely’

But differences remain and it was unclear if the new text offered enough changes to win full backing from skeptics on the council.

The draft is unlikely to generate new international commitments of troops and money to support the struggling U.S.-led occupation, as some senior council members reacted sharply to the U.S. resolution, saying it would fuel greater armed resistance to the occupation forces, the Post said.

"The whole process puts the cart before the horse," said one senior council diplomat said, adding "a constitution cannot be created under occupation."

"It's just more or less the same attitude: burden sharing without responsibility sharing," said a European diplomat who said the resolution still provides too limited a role for the United Nations.

U.S. policy in Iraq suffered a blow last week when the United Nations withdrew most of its staff after a second suicide attack, and potential troop contributors, including Pakistan and India, responded coolly to a U.S. request for military support.

Annan has said he wants the U.N. role to be clearly defined, which would help minimize the risk to U.N. personnel of being associated with the U.S. occupation.

The United States wants a maximum of yes votes, rather than abstentions, from the full 15-member council, which will hold new talks on the Iraq situation on Thursday.