Posted on 08/06/2003 5:52:40 AM PDT by Ex-Dem
UNITED NATIONS - Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to recognize the Iraq's new Governing Council as a step toward the formation of a true government.
Annan also said the Security Council should establish a U.N. mission in Iraq and he chided the members for failing to say anything about the 25-member Governing Council after three of its members addressed a Security Council meeting on July 22.
Spain circulated a draft statement after that meeting welcoming the Governing Council as an important first step toward the formation of an internationally recognized government in Iraq. But it was not adopted because of differing views among the 15 council nations.
More than four months after the bitterly divided Security Council refused to back the war in Iraq, the U.S.-led occupation and the U.N.'s postwar role remain sensitive issues. Despite this, Iraq was still one of the key items on the agenda of Annan's monthly lunch with the council.
"We do need a decision to set up the (U.N.) mission. I think it is also important that they say something about the Iraqi Governing Council," Annan told The Associated Press,
The secretary-general noted that the three Iraqis came to the United Nations to address the Security Council, which did not respond.
"It doesn't send a very good message," Annan said.
The U.S.-appointed Governing Council is representative of the key constituencies in Iraq - Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds - and was meant to be a transition to a more permanent government.
The United States had pressed for a strong Security Council statement that would have welcomed establishment of the Governing Council.
But indicative of the opposition was Monday's Arab League announcement that its members will not recognize the U.S.-appointed body, and will wait instead until post-Saddam Hussein Iraq is led by an elected government.
Russia has circulated a draft of a resolution that would establish a U.N. mission in Iraq.
But council diplomats said the United States isn't convinced there's a need yet for a U.N. mission, because Iraq already has the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority and the Governing Council.
Given the choice between a useless UN and one that has the power to assert its authority and enforce its will, I would not hesitate to choose the former.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.