Iraq’s new government was given international legitimacy on Tuesday night when the United Nations security council voted unanimously to support the transfer of sovereignty from the United States-led occupation.
George Bush and Tony Blair both welcomed the vote as the beginning of a new era of international consensus over Iraq. The final text reflected substantial concessions to France, Germany and Russia, but the passage of the resolu tion gives, for the first time, a stamp of international approval to the US-led force in Iraq.
”This is an important milestone for the new Iraq,” Blair said after arriving at the G8 summit at Sea Island near Savannah, Georgia.
”We all now want to put the divisions of the past behind us and unite behind a vision of a modern, democratic and stable Iraq that can be a force for good, not just for Iraqis but for the whole region and thus the whole world.”
The compromise was reached in time to remove Iraq as a potential flashpoint at the G8 summit. Speaking to journalists, Bush declared himself ”delighted” by the resolution, and predicted that a democratic Iraq would prove a catalyst for change in the Middle East. ”There were some who said we would never get one. I think this is a very important moment on making sure our objective is achieved,” he said.
Blair expressed hope that the UN resolution would send a message to rebels in Iraq that the rest of the world was united in support of democracy.
”There will be difficult and dangerous days in the coming weeks and months, but there should be no doubt about what it is we want to see happening in Iraq, or our determination to bring it about.”
The resolution defines the division of power that will take hold after power is transferred to the UN-appointed caretaker government on June 30. Crucially it leaves certain factors open to interpretation — including the vexed question of whether the Iraqi leadership will be able to veto US-led military operations.
The text of the resolution gives the multinational force ”the authority to take all necessary measures to contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq”, but the final draft calls for Iraqi leaders and US force commanders to reach agreement on ”sensitive offensive operations”.
It does not stipulate what should happen if they fail to agree.
The resolution establishes a latest withdrawal date for the multinational force at the end of next year, by which time a new constitution and a new government are supposed to be in place.
The interim government could call on the UN to terminate the mandate of the multinational force before its time is up. However, the total withdrawal of foreign troops would almost certainly strip Iraqi leaders of their protection.
On the economic front, the resolution contains a clause spelling out the Iraqi people’s right ”to exercise full authority and control over their financial and natural resources”. It specifies that the government will have sole authority over the use of energy proceeds, handing over a fund for oil and gas revenues currently controlled by the occupation authority.
It also implies the international recognition that paves the way for aid and debt relief.
But on the insistence of Shia leaders, it does not refer to an interim constitution signed in March which included provisions giving autonomy to the Kurdish minority.
The deal was sealed after the UN-designated Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, and the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, wrote to the security council outlining a common view of how foreign forces should operate, and pledging to set up a joint forum to negotiate controversial actions.
A French official claimed on Tuesday that Paris had won ”90% of what we asked for”. ”The resolution doesn’t say what happens if there is disagreement over sensitive operations and the remaining ambiguity is regrettable,” the official conceded. ”But we think it is a good resolution.”
On his first official visit to Washington on Tuesday, Iraq’s new president, Ghazi al-Yawar, declared: ”It means full sovereignty for Iraq. It means a new age in hopefully very pleasant Iraqi history.” Yawar is set to meet Bush at the G8 summit.
Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said that the resolution would remove the concept of ”occupation” which he said was ”the main reason for many of the difficulties that we have been going through since liberation”.
Powell said that an added significance of the resolution was the new-found accord in the international community, which has been bitterly divided over Iraq.
Ivo Daalder, a former member of President Bill Clinton’s national security council and a critic of the Bush administration, said the resolution meant the multinational force could do whatever it wanted and did not confer full sovereignty on the interim government.
The text states that the caretaker administration would refrain ”from taking any actions affecting Iraq’s destiny beyond the limited interim period” leading to an elected government next year. – Guardian Unlimited Â