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U.S. defends Iraq contracts, EU demands U.N. role By David Evans BRUSSELS, March 27 (Reuters) - As Britain and the United States thrash out plans to rebuild a post-war Iraq, a senior U.S. official on Thursday defended the awarding of relief and reconstruction contracts to American firms. The European Union meanwhile insisted the United Nations must be "in the driving seat" in post-conflict Iraq, in contrast to Washington's plans for a more limited U.N. role. Alan Larson, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural affairs, on a fence-mending trip to Europe after bitter divisions over Iraq, insisted the...

U.N. human rights forum rejects session on Iraq By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA, March 27 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Thursday rejected a call by eight countries including Russia and Syria to examine the human rights and humanitarian situation in Iraq as a result of war. An Iraqi delegate to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights immediately condemned the decision, saying it was a "dark day" for the organisation because Iraqis were "suffering psychological torture." The 53-state commission is holding its annual six-week session in Geneva as U.S.-led forces push ahead in their week-old invasion to rid Iraq of alleged...

Tony Blair sought last night to avert a rift with President George W Bush by agreeing that the United Nations' role in post-war Iraq should be limited to humanitarian aid until America and Britain had made the country safe. As he flew to Washington for a war summit with President Bush, the Prime Minister described as "premature" talk of the UN's role in running the country immediately after the conflict. "We don't know what the situation is going to be when you get to the post-conflict situation," he said. In an attempt to maintain the allies' unity after a series...

A By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS, March 26 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan admitted on Wednesday the world was bitter at the United Nations' handling of the Iraqi crisis and said it was time for the big powers to unite on the needs of the Iraqi people. In the last few months, Annan said, the peoples of the world had shown how much they expected from the United Nations and the 15-member Security Council. "Many of them have been bitterly disappointed," Annan told a Security Council debate on Iraq, the first since the U.S.-led war began a week ago. "All...

U.S. says will not cede control of Iraq to U.N. WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - The United States will not cede control of Iraq to the United Nations if and when it overthrows President Saddam Hussein, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday. "We didn't take on this huge burden with our coalition partners not to be able to have a significant dominating control over how it unfolds in the future," Powell told a House of Representatives subcommittee. "We would not support ... essentially handing everything over to the U.N. for someone designated by the U.N. to suddenly become...

Iraq demands UN crackdown on "naked aggression" UNITED NATIONS, March 26 (Reuters) - Iraq's U.N. envoy accused the United States and Britain on Wednesday of inflicting thousands of casualties on his country and demanded the Security Council crack down on their "naked aggression." "Iraq, a founding member of the United Nations, is being subjected to a criminal, barbaric American-British military aggression," Iraqi envoy Mohammed Aldouri told an emergency session of the 15-nation council, the first public U.N. meeting on the war since it began last week. "This has led to thousands of casualties among whom are children, women and elderly,"...

Herewith six surreal acts in search of a play: ACT I: Almost everything the distinguished French foreign minister says smells like last decade's Roquefort, but now and then one of his statements achieves a surreal peak. Consider this beaut of a line from the oh-so-honorable Dominique de Villepin: "Everything must be tried to preserve the unity of the Security Council." Everything except agreeing with the United States to take any real action against a murderous tyrant who has defied every Final Opportunity the U.N. has given him. Ah, well, maybe it makes sense in French. It occurs that M. de...

VIENNA, Austria - Hans Blix, the U.N. chief weapons inspector, has voiced criticism and disappointment that his inspectors had to pull out from Iraq before completing their task. In an interview with the Austrian magazine News at U.N. headquarters in New York, Blix said, "I am disappointed that we could not stay longer to finish our work." Excerpts of the interview, to be published Thursday, were released to Austrian media on Wednesday. "We had the door slammed in our faces," said Blix, the head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC. "Three and a half months...

AMMAN, March 26 (AFP) - The International Crisis Group (ICG) on Wednesday called for the establishment of a UN transitional authority in post-war Iraq until a legitimate and democratic authority can take over. "The best road for Iraq and the international community is to set up a UN transitional civil authority with full executive and legislative powers to run the country until a legitimate, democratic permanent Iraqi authority can be established," the ICG said in the statement released in Brussels and Amman. Such a governing body should be set up "as soon as possible after hositilities have ceased," the international...

Canada's FM presses for quick end to Iraqi war, quick start to aid OTTAWA (AFP) Mar 25, 2003 Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said Tuesday he hoped for a swift end to the war in Iraq and a quick start to a multinational reconstruction of the country. He rejected a claim by an opposition member of parliament that the government was "wobbling and waffling" on the Iraqi question, insisting the government had not changed its position and still had no plans to join the US-led military coalition in Iraq. Ottawa was "very disappointed" the United States and Britain had...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations accused U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday of violating the U.N. Charter by not denouncing the U.S.-led invasion of his country and for withdrawing key U.N. personnel before the attack. Ambassador Mohammed Aldouri, in a statement read to reporters, was particularly angry at Annan's proposals to the U.N. Security Council, which would put him in charge of a program that used Iraq's oil revenues to pay for food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies to needy civilians. Aldouri said Annan's was doing the bidding of the United States and Britain to...

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AMMAN, Jordan, Mar 22, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- As U.S. tanks and troops push up the Euphrates River valley toward Baghdad, they'll be rolling through a vast green plain whose hard-pressed farmers should be planting their spring vegetables and harvesting their winter grain. An Iraqi farmer's almanac would tell you it's the wrong season for war. The upheaval of an invasion could interrupt the reaping and the sowing just as stored food is running out for most Iraqis. "It's a particularly bad time for both the winter crop and the spring crop," said Barry Came, a U.N. food...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said he is encouraged by the progress of the war in Iraq but is not sure how long it will last. "We are encouraged that things are going so successfully," Daschle said. Daschle's comments came Friday after President Bush briefed Daschle and the rest of the congressional leadership on the war's progress at the White House. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., agreed that the war seems to be going well. But when it comes to briefings, the American people probably know as much as their congressional delegation, Johnson said. "I can't think...

The Iraqi government on Saturday urged the United Nations Security Council to stop the US-led war on Iraq "unconditionally" and "immediately." The call was made by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri in a letter to the president of the Security Council. The letter described the war as "aggression and invasion" of Iraq from the United States, Britain and Australia.

MOSCOW, March 21 (AFP) - Russia and other countries will ask the United Nations to rule whether the US-led war on Iraq is legal, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Friday. "With other states, we will put this question before the UN's legal department. It is very important that these arguments (about the legality of US actions) are confirmed," he told the State Duma lower house of parliament. "This is the only way that we can use them as a strong weapon," Ivanov added. "If the UN Security Council describes the US actions as an aggression, the appropriate measures will...

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has reminded the United States and Britain of their legal duty to protect Iraqi civilians in what he called the imminent disaster of war. "Under international law, the responsibility for protecting civilians in conflict falls on the belligerents," he told an open meeting of the UN Security Council. "In any area under military occupation, responsibility for the welfare of the population falls on the occupying power." The meeting was held as the hours ticked down to the deadline set by US President George W. Bush for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to leave his country or...

The slight, bearded man padded over to me in well-worn birkenstocks, and quietly murmured the code phrase.I repeated the one to which we'd agreed on the phone, and he led me into an alley. He placed a blindfold on me, and we progressed into a building and, apparently, an elevator. I had no other clues as to my whereabouts except for the scents as I passed through the native environment for these determined, if deluded fighters--deep Vienna roast, and the yeasty aroma of a patisserie. On the brink of resurgence of military action in the twelve-year cold war between the...

The failure of the United Nations Security Council to reach a unified position on Iraq has raised concern that its credibility has been damaged at a critical time. In particular, UN experts say the relations of two key members -- the United States and France -- will need to be repaired in order for the council to play a constructive role in Iraq's future and cope effectively with other crises. United Nations, 18 March 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Only four months ago, a unanimous United Nations Security Council called for tough new weapons inspections in Iraq, in what was seen as...