U.S. Envoy Predicts Passage of Amended Iraq Resolution / By Warren Hoge --
6/8/04
UNITED NATIONS, June 7 — The United States said Monday night
that it believed that it had the support of the Security Council for its
resolution
on Iraq
and that it would put the measure to a vote on Tuesday.
"
We have made a major effort to take into account the comments that have been
made by various delegations, and we think it is an excellent resolution," said
John D. Negroponte, the American ambassador to the United Nations who is going
to Baghdad soon as the American ambassador there. He made the comments after
several revisions were made to the resolution for the fourth time in two weeks.
The resolution is intended to enshrine the sovereignty of the interim Iraqi
government, taking over on June 30, to confer international legitimacy on the
American-led forces there and to define the role of the United Nations after
the transition.
Mr. Negroponte made his comments outside the chamber where envoys from the
15 Security Council nations had been debating revisions to the resolution submitted
by the United States and Britain, its co-sponsors.
The latest adjustments made Monday included meeting a French-German
demand that the relationship between Iraqi troops and the American-led forces — outlined
in letters annexed to the measure — be spelled out in the measure itself.
The letters, one from Iyad Allawi, the prime minister of the interim
Iraqi government, and the other from Secretary of State Colin L. Powell,
describe
a partnership between Iraqi forces and the United States command "on the
full range of fundamental security and police issues, including policy on sensitive
offensive operations."
Mr. Negroponte said that, though he believed the letters spoke for
themselves, the United States had agreed to incorporate a "summary paragraph" of
what they say into the resolution.
To accommodate Russia's request for an international conference on Iraq, the
draft was also changed to say that the Security Council would consider one
if Iraq asked it to.
The new version gives the interim Iraqi government the right to order
American troops to leave Iraq — a request the new ministers have indicated
they are highly unlikely to make for security reasons. Under the terms of
the resolution,
the mandate of the multinational force would expire in January 2006.
After leaving the Council chamber Monday night, several ambassadors said they
would seek instructions from their capitals on any last revisions, and legal
experts were expected to work through the night on a final version.
But the diplomats expressed overall satisfaction with the direction the resolution
was taking.
Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sablière of France said: "The
new version which has been presented by the American and U.K. delegations
is certainly
much better than the one we had yesterday. I think things are going in the
right direction."
Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile said the final text reflected
suggestions put forth by his country, Spain and Brazil that the resolution
state that all
forces pledge to observe international human rights laws.
In an open meeting before the closed afternoon session, Lakhdar Brahimi, the
United Nations special envoy to Iraq, reported on his just completed effort
to help appoint the members of the new caretaker government. He said its first
mission would be to gain the support of people who have opposed the American
occupation.
" It will need to reach out to those who have been vocal critics of this past year's process and engage them in dialogue," Mr. Brahimi said. "It will need to resist the temptation to characterize all who have opposed the occupation as terrorists and bitter-enders."