UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Declaring that the United States wants a robust U.N. presence in Iraq, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte urged countries Friday to contribute troops for a new force dedicated to protecting U.N. staff and facilities. Negroponte said the troops would be under overall command of the multinational force authorized by the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 16. The multinational force is led by the United States, but he stressed that the U.N. protection force would be a "discreet, separate" entity.
The U.S. ambassador, who is widely tipped to be President Bush's choice to replace L. Paul Bremer as the top American envoy in Iraq after the June 30 handover of power, refused to confirm or deny that he would be heading to Baghdad. "I simply can't comment on those reports, and any statement on that kind of subject would obviously have to come from the White House," he told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council on Iraq.
Negroponte told council members that the United States welcomes the "highly constructive recommendations" made this week by U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi for a caretaker government that would assume power from the U.S.-led coalition on June 30 "and looks forward to hearing about them in greater detail." "Our thinking is very much that he's got the lead on this issue and that his recommendations will carry a great deal of weight," Negroponte said later. The coalition and the Iraqi Governing Council asked the United Nations to help come up with a transitional government acceptable to a wide range of Iraqis and to assist in preparing for elections, to be held by Jan. 31.
Negroponte made clear the United States wants the United Nations back. "I believe that I do not overstate the broad desire within the international community for the United Nations to return to Iraq to play an expansive, robust and vital role, in particular after the June 30 transition," Negroponte told the council. "In this regard, I urge member states to contribute to the future of Iraq by providing troops to carry out the function of security support for the essential United Nations role," he said.
| Clever -- hoist the Security Council members on their own petard. You want a role? Contribute. |
Negroponte said he expects the role of a "broad-based U.N. mission" to be defined in a new U.N. resolution. He said he doesn't expect a draft "in the very near future but I'm sure that over the next several weeks this is an issue we're going to have to address." Among the issues he envisioned in a new resolution are the political transition, possibly questions related to the multinational force, and legalities related to the transfer of power from an occupying force to a soverign Iraqi government.
| And making sure the French can't co-opt the new transitional government as a way to get money and oil leases. |
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