US, Britain make further changes to Iraq resolution

The United States and Britain on Friday made further changes to their draft resolution on Iraq, giving the interim Iraqi government the right to ask the US-led multinational force to leave the country.

Under the new draft, the third on Iraq's power transfer in two weeks, the United Nations Security Council would terminate the mandate of the multinational force if requested by "the sovereign Iraqi government", which includes the newly-formed interim one, said council diplomats.

In the second draft, only the transitional Iraqi government, which will be elected by the end of January next year, would have the authority to request the withdrawal of the international force.

The new draft makes clear that the interim government, due to take over power from the US-led occupying coalition by June 30, would be barred from making any decisions having long-term effect on Iraq.

The latest version, circulated at a meeting of experts from the 15 Security Council members earlier Friday, also calls for the multinational force to act in accordance with the international humanitarian law and report to the council quarterly on its activities.

On the power transfer, the new draft states more clearly that the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad "will cease to exist, and that full sovereignty will have been restored to Iraq."

Diplomats said these changes were made after Germany and France jointly proposed amendments on Wednesday and China presented its own proposals on Thursday.

Describing the changes as "non-substantive", they said giving the interim government the authority to send the multinational force, mostly US troops, home would make no sense, since Iraq certainly would not have the ability to maintain security in a foreseeable future.

They quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as telling the council on Thursday that Iraq needs the multinational force to stay for "quite some time."

The new draft remains ambiguous on the relationship between the multinational force and the Iraqi government, the most contentiousissue among the council members.

Diplomats said the council is waiting for letters from the Iraqi government and the multinational force on their respective duties, which are expected to arrive next week.

At a meeting during the weekend in Long Island, the ambassadors of the 15 council members and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will discuss the new resolution and hear a briefing by Annan's special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on the process of forming the interim Iraqi government.

The new draft is a fresh attempt by the United States and Britain to win the council endorsement for the transfer of authority in Iraq and its authorization for the multinational force in post-occupation Iraq.

Source: Xinhua