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US and Britain ask United Nations to take iraq { May 24 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5240098http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5240098
New UN Resolution Gives Broad Powers to U.S. Troops
Mon May 24, 2004 03:48 PM ET
By Evelyn Leopold and Steve Holland
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Britain asked U.N. members on Monday to endorse a hand-over of power to a new Iraqi interim government but proposed U.S. troops could "take all measures" to keep order.
The draft U.N. Security Council resolution, which asks for support for a U.S.-led multinational force, however, gives no date for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
It is also silent on the future of U.S. prisons and Iraqi control over its own forces.
An interim government drawn from Iraq's various religious and ethnic communities is expected to be formed in the next week or so, with help from U.N. Iraq envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. No vote is expected until Brahimi reports back to the council.
The resolution, presented to the council, would support the formation of a "sovereign interim government" to take office by June 30. It says that government would "assume the responsibility and authority for governing a sovereign Iraq."
"This resolution marks a new phase in the transition to democracy for Iraq. It recognizes the end of the occupation and the beginning of sovereignty for the Iraqi people," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The measure would give Iraq's new ministers control of oil revenues but keep an international audit board for a year to check on expenditures, in order to encourage foreign investments.
The draft emerged as President Bush prepared to deliver a televised speech on Monday mapping out his plans for Iraq, where attacks on occupying forces have thrown into doubt prospects for a peaceful transfer to democratic rule.
Bush, who will make the speech at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, has seen his approval ratings slip to the mid-to-low 40 percent range.
Iraqi leaders and some Security Council members, notably France and Germany which opposed the war, have pressed Bush to ensure the new Baghdad government is given real independence.
French diplomats immediately said the resolution should have an expiry date for U.S. troops in Iraq, unless the Iraqis ask them to stay.
U.S. deputy ambassador James Cunningham said the 130,000 American troops would go if an Iraqi government asked them to and that Iraqi control over its own forces would be the subject of a letter between the U.S. government and the new Iraqi leaders. France said that should be part of the resolution.
The daily bloodshed, including the deaths of two British security guards outside the U.S.-led administration's headquarters in Baghdad on Monday, means few Iraqi leaders are anxious to see U.S. troops leave.
Home to the world's second biggest oil reserves, Iraq's hopes for prosperity have been dimmed by turmoil. That point was underscored when a fire, possibly caused by sabotage struck a pipeline near Kirkuk, the main city in the northern oil fields.
WEDDING VIDEO
Widespread dismay at U.S. military tactics has been heightened by a scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners and, in the past few days, by controversy over a U.S. air strike that local people said massacred a wedding party in the desert.
New video footage showing the wedding celebrations raised more questions, but U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the raid had targeted foreign guerrillas near the Syrian border.
"At this point we have seen nothing that causes us to change our minds. But we need to get as much evidence as possible and see where the investigation takes us," said Kimmitt. The U.S. military says about 40 people were killed.
American officials said they could not rule out that a wedding or some other celebration was taking place in the area the day before. It said troops found no signs of a wedding in the wreckage left at the remote hamlet of Mogr al-Deeb.
Kimmitt said earlier six women were killed.
Top U.N. human rights official Bertrand Ramcharan said even if some of those at the house in Mogr al-Deeb were involved in criminal activity, that was no excuse for the "carnage."
A recent opinion poll showed only seven percent of Iraqis still view U.S. troops as liberators. More than 40 percent said they would feel safer if U.S. forces left now.
"They will give us a president like Yasser Arafat, a president in name but with no power," said Hussein Ibrahim, 22, a Baghdad university student.
"After a year's experience, people know where power lies," said Iraq analyst Mustafa Alani. "If the new 'sovereign' entity does not have the authority to protect its citizens from U.S. arrest, it will have no credibility in the eyes of Iraqis."
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