U.N. Iraq Resolution Vote Postponed in Hopes of Winning Greater Support
Envoys say final amendments well received
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- After receiving indications of wider acceptance for their proposed resolution on Iraq, the United
States and three co-sponsors introduced a final set of amendments October 15 and agreed to postpone a vote on the draft
for 14 hours.
Emerging from a closed door meeting, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte announced that "I can safely say we see a positive
movement towards greater consensus in the council on the basis of the United States text and we look forward to
tomorrow's vote which will take place at 10 o'clock in the morning."
The postponement came after the United States and co-sponsors Cameroon, Spain and the United Kingdom introduced three
amendments designed to answer the concerns of other delegations -- especially Russia, France, and Germany -- about some
provisions in the text.
The three countries asked for the delay so that their heads of state could confer on the new text and give voting
instructions to their U.N. representatives.
"With a subject as difficult and complicated and important as Iraq we certainly wanted to make our best efforts to take
into account the comments of the various delegations and various countries," Negroponte said.
"Without doing violence to the underlying principles of the draft resolution, I think a major effort has been made by
ourselves and the other co-sponsors to take into account the comments that we have heard from other delegations," he
said.
"I think it proves we have been listening. We understand the importance of passing a resolution with as strong a
statement of consensus on the part of the council as possible," the U.S. ambassador said.
Nevertheless, Negroponte said, the resolution cannot address every eventuality that might occur in Iraq.
"This is a broad framework designed to show international support for Iraq in the political, economic, and military
areas. We can't anticipate every single detail but we think this is a good framework. We think it deserves strong
support from the council members," he said.
The draft resolution invites the Iraqi Governing Council to provide to the Security Council by December 15 a timetable
and program for the drafting of a new constitution and holding elections. It asks U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to
ensure that the resources of the U.N. and associated organizations are available if requested by the Iraqi Governing
Council to help with the constitutional process and elections and asks that the secretary general pursue the course of
action for the United Nations that he outlined in his July 2003 report to the council "as circumstances permit."
The text also authorizes a multinational force (MNF) under unified command to take all necessary measures to contribute
to the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq and security for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq.
Negroponte said that some of the amendments have to do with clarifying the role of the United Nations and the
multinational force.
The co-sponsors felt it was necessary to make clear that Secretary General Kofi Annan and his special representative in
Iraq "had greater scope for action," the ambassador said. "There was an interpretation of one paragraph by some of the
delegations to the effect that they felt we were limiting the secretary general's role in some way and that correction
has been made."
Another amendment "makes it clearer what the circumstances of how the MNF might be terminated and under what conditions
it could be renewed once there is an elected representative government of Iraq," Negroponte said.
British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry added that "the text now in final form on the table is one that has been well
received by colleagues. Our honest hope is that now the international community can come together and demonstrate very
clearly that we are in the business of transferring authority as soon as possible more and more to the Iraqis, that the
international community is committed to actually sustaining and actually developing the sort of Iraq that the Iraqis are
entitled to have, and that we have provided the means by which the secretary general will be able to implement this
resolution as and when the conditions permit."
"If a pause means we are more likely to move toward a consensus in the council then the pause is justified," Jones Parry
said. "We hope we have an outcome that the people of Iraq are entitled to have and which will demonstrate the commitment
of the international community as a whole and the United Nations to sustain the good news of what is happening in Iraq
today."