By Stephen Castle in Brussels
04 April 2003
Independent (UK)
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, promised the UN "a role" in post-war Iraq yesterday, but made it clear that America will take the lead in forging the country's future after Saddam Hussein.
A day of frantic diplomacy in Brussels saw signs of a modest thaw in transatlantic relations but failed to resolve the crucial issue of how much power the US will relinquish once the war is won.
European countries see a central role for the UN as the prerequisite for an EU contribution to rebuilding Iraq or for another idea discussed yesterday: peace-keeping by Nato.
But after talks with senior EU officials and Nato foreign ministers, Mr Powell made it clear that, having sacrificed the lives of their soldiers, the victors of the war would take the lead in the creation of the post-war administration.
"It was the coalition that came together and took on this difficult mission, at political expense at at the expense of the money that it cost, and at the expense of lives as well," Mr Powell said. "When we have succeeded and when we look down the road to a better life for the Iraqi people, to rebuild their society after these decades of devastation wrought by Saddam Hussein, I think the coalition has to play the leading role in determining the way forward."
But the US Secretary of State added that this was "not to say that we have to shut others out" or to deny the importance of "partnership with the international community and especially with the UN". Mr Powell also restated the US commitment to push the Middle East peace process.
Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said: "We are all agreed on the need to have a role for the UN but there needs to be a lot of discussions."
After the most serious transatlantic rift for years there was a conciliatory response from France, which had led the opposition for the US-led war. The French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, called for a "central role for the UN, which is the source of international legitimacy" but said the international community should be "pragmatic" while Iraq is being made secure.
He acknowledged that the US would have to run Iraq until it was made safe. And he did not rule out a peace-keeping role for Nato, although he said discussions were "premature".
Mr Powell said US and British forces would be responsible for stabilising the security situation and finding weapons of mass destruction. "At the same time ... we will quickly want to establish an interim authority," he said.
But George Papandreou, Foreign Minister of Greece, which holds the EU presidency, said a fresh UN resolution "will be a prerequisite of full involvement of the EU in post-conflict reconstruction".
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Nato's secretary general, said the alliance's role needed to be considered carefully. "Some nations favoured it and none excluded it," he added.