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Russia casts doubts on transition-of-power plan
Russiaâs Foreign Ministry said Monday that the new agreement between the Iraqi Governing Council and the U.S.-led coalition to establish a provisional government before a permanent constitution is approved "raises a series of questions" about whether it can be implemented. Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko, in a statement on the ministryâs Web site, said the agreement would be put into practice "without broadening the social basis" for resolving the situation in Iraq and "without consideration for the opinion of the international community." Such an approach, he said, is "fraught with danger that this agreement will not have the necessary legitimacy either within [Iraq] or from the point of view of international law."
| "It just ain't gonna work until we say it'll work." |
Yakovenko pointed out in particular the lack of any statement in the agreement about a role for the United Nations. Russia, he said, believes that without involvement by the United Nations "it will [be] difficult to win the real trust of the Iraqi people or to receive full international recognition."
| See Omar's post for his heartfelt confirmation of that... |
The council announced the plan Saturday to establish a provisional government, with full sovereign powers, by the end of June. Iraqis would write a constitution and elect a democratic government by the end of 2005, said Ahmed Chalabi, a council member. U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer said the United States would have preferred the country have a permanent constitution before the coalition relinquished power, but an impasse over the constitution dictated otherwise.
Posted by: Rafael 2003-11-18 |
