Posted on 05/20/2003 10:51:39 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
UNITED NATIONS, May 20 (UPI) -- The United States late Tuesday began rewriting its U.N. Security Council resolution on lifting sanctions and rebuilding Iraq -- it will be version No. 4 -- after four-hours of closed consultations generally described as "constructive."
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said he will table the revised measure Wednesday morning and expects a vote on the measure Thursday. On Monday, he expected a vote on revision No. 3 Wednesday. The first draft was tabled May 9.
"We had a discussion about voting the resolution," he told reporters. "We initially talked about voting it tomorrow, but in light of some of the issues that arose, including a number of technical questions, plus some changes that the co-sponsors are willing to consider, we agreed that the vote would in all likelihood take place on Thursday morning."
The co sponsors are Britain and Spain and the United States.
Washington's envoy explained to reporters the now-12-page measure has "25 operative paragraphs, a number of them are rather legal and technical in nature, and some questions have arisen that just require a little bit more work. In fact, that's what we're going back to do right now is take a look at some of the comments that were made" during the consultations.
Negroponte said his team was focusing on "some of the technicalities of the resolution." He declined to spell them out.
"The co-sponsors promise to come back with a new text which would respond to questions, at least to some of them, and we will get the text and we will study it," said Ambassador Sergei Lavrov of Russia. "We think that the role of the Security Council in overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq should be clear."
As an example, he thought "criteria for phasing out some of the measures, which are proposed as temporary measures," should be created by a "legitimate and internationally recognized government" in Baghdad.
"We also believe that we have to have an understanding how we close the disarmament files of Iraq in accordance with the resolutions" covering the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Lavrov said. They were the agencies mandated with verifying Iraq was free of weapons of mass destruction.
"On quite a number of issues there were also discussions -- and frankly I believe the co- sponsors were reacting on a constructive manner -- and on those questions (for which) they didn't have answers today they promised to come back to us tomorrow and we would be expecting them to do so," said Moscow's envoy.
Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, this month's president of the council, said, "A number of points have been raised. The talks were held in a very constructive atmosphere. There were responses to suggestions and we hope that the revised version will be available tomorrow and we hope that it will be a version that can be supported."
He said consultations on the revised resolution were not scheduled.
"We will be waiting for the revised text and see if further consultations will be required," Islamabad's envoy said. "It will be more or less the text that we would like to have voted on."
Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of Britain said: "I think we are making quite good progress. There is going to be constant work by the co-sponsors this evening for some revisions for tomorrow morning. Not very many but some reasonable proposals have been made to clarify the text. Then delegations have to report those before we vote so we are allowing a 24-period, which is why it's Thursday morning instead of Wednesday evening."
The council traditionally allows 24-hours between the time a final draft is set down and when it is voted on to allow time for consultations with capitals.
"I think it's fair under the traditions of the council and that's a timetable the co-sponsors wish to stick to," said Greenstock, who added that the co-sponsors were listening to "every point that is being made.
"A number of delegations have got more points that others, but we can't make them all on this time scale and they are still asking for further concessions which I don't think the co-sponsors are going to make," he continued. "People will go on trying until you put the thing down for a vote.
"But, I believe that the atmosphere remains constructive," London's envoy said. "There is wide acknowledgement that we have made a number of concessions already that have been helpful and that have been received positively. So my hopes are quite high that there will be a large number of votes for this resolution."
It takes nine yes votes, with no vetoes from any of the five permanent members of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. None have been threatened and at least nine yes votes have been expected since late last week on earlier versions, so the measure is virtually assured passage.
The more yes votes, the stronger the mandate.
Well, it just goes ta show ya. I didn't even know they brewed beer in Iraq.
But, what the hey, just like drunks in a bar, if buying the UN a couple of rounds will cool their stupid asses out, do it.
Cheap at double the price.
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