US submits 'final draft' on Iraq

The United States remains in the driving seat in Post-Saddam Iraq

The United States has submitted a revised version of its draft resolution on post-war Iraq to the United Nations Security Council.

The Council is due to discuss the draft later on Tuesday, and US ambassador to the UN John Negroponte said members should be prepared for a final vote from Wednesday onwards.

The revised resolution includes a role for the UN in choosing a new government in Iraq and, for the first time, mentions UN weapons inspectors.

But Mr Negroponte added that the US could not go much further to accommodate other members of the Security Council.

We certainly welcome the mood of the co-sponsors to really try their best to respond to as many questions as they can

Sergey Lavrov
Russian Ambassador to UN

Russia has been anxious to secure UN involvement in Iraq to avoid losing billions of dollars owed by Baghdad and invested in Iraqi oil projects.

Its position is broadly supported by China and France, who also opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, and all three have veto powers in the Security Council.

"I hope that other members of the Council will find that this is a significantly improved draft which reflects many of their concerns," said the British Ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who presented the draft along with his US and Spanish counterparts.

The BBC's Susannah Price at UN headquarters in New York says the fact the Americans are not calling for an immediate vote suggests there could still be days of negotiations ahead.

Concessions

The draft released on Monday evening shows a number of concessions have been made:

• The UN special representative would work with the occupying powers on moving towards a new Iraqi government: and the UN would "revisit" the mandate of its weapons inspectors; however, there is no mention of sending them back into Iraq as countries such as France and Russia have requested.

• The occupation by US and British forces would last "until an internationally recognized, representative government is established by the people of Iraq and assumes [their] responsibilities". Previously the US had wanted the occupation endorsed for 12 months with a possible renewal

• The UN's humanitarian oil-for-food programme would be phased out over six months, not four. Such an extension would be important to Russia, which has a major share of the contracts approved under the programme

• Iraq's massive debts would be dealt with by multilateral systems such as the Paris Club - thus dispelling Russian fears that the US would invalidate some of its claims

• Iraq would not enjoy immunity from claims on its oil and revenues in the case of ecological accidents such as oil spills - a concession to France and Spain.

Russian welcome

Sergey Lavrov, Russia's Ambassador to the UN, gave the draft a guarded welcome.

"We certainly welcome the mood of the co-sponsors to really try their best to respond to as many questions as they can," he said.

Correspondents say it is unlikely any permanent member of the Security Council will veto the draft although there could be abstentions.

Although the US appears to already have the necessary support of at least nine members of the 15-strong Council, Secretary of State Colin Powell has called for a "15-0" result.