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U.S. Says Open to Changing Iraqi Mandate
Fri Jul 18, 3:40 PM ET
By Jonathan Wright
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is open to proposals to give
the United Nations (news - web sites) a bigger role in Iraq (news - web
sites), especially if they encourage other governments to contribute more to
peace-keeping and reconstruction, a spokesman said on Friday.
"We're open to this prospect. We're indeed
talking about it with other people, but at this
point I can't draw to a conclusion," State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
India and Russia have both suggested they
might consider contributing troops to help U.S.
forces in Iraq if the United Nations adjusts the
current system, which gives the United States
and Britain the dominant role in post-war Iraq.
The United States insisted on that system after
overthrowing the government of President
Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) but it is
facing a high cost in cash and casualties as it
tries to control the country.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web
sites) said on Wednesday he had discussed
the idea of a new U.N. mandate with U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web
sites) and visiting foreign ministers but the
initiative was not coming from the U.S. side.
Washington maintains that the existing
arrangements, enshrined in Security Council
resolution 1483, should be enough to persuade
other countries to help there.
CONTRIBUTE TROOPS?
It also appears to have doubts about whether a new mandate really would
encourage others to participate.
"I leave it to others to say, for example, if there were such a mandate, that
they would contribute significant numbers of troops. In many of the
statements I've seen, other than perhaps the Indian statement, that's not as
clear as some might think," Boucher said.
India said on Monday it would not send troops to Iraq without a U.N.
mandate, rejecting a U.S. request.
Russia took a similar position on Friday. It said it had no plans to send
forces under current conditions but may reconsider if the United Nations
took an appropriate decision.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said Russia,
which opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, looked forward to discussions on
expanding the U.N. mandate in Iraq at a Security Council meeting next
week.
"I think everybody wants to hear on the 22nd from the U.N. representative,
Sergio de Mello, and the Iraqi government council members who will be
coming to New York. They'll give the council an update on the situation. So
we'll see where discussions go from there," Boucher said.
France and Germany, which opposed the U.S. invasion, have not indicated
whether they would consider contributing troops even with a more prominent
U.N. role.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, visiting Washington this week,
said he did not receive any request for troops. Germany could not contribute
anyway because of its military commitments in Afghanistan (news - web
sites). |
