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Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003

Germany, France and Russia - the leading opponents to the U.S.-led war in Iraq - said earlier today they would vote in favor of the resolution in a bid to restore international solidarity to the reconstruction effort.

The decision, announced by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at a European summit in Brussels, marked a dramatic shift by the three European countries, who had bitterly opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

But French officials said the European support would not translate into the money and troops sought by the United States to ease the burden of American forces in Iraq.

"We agreed that the resolution is really an important step in the right direction," Schroeder said after a 45-minute conference call with presidents Jacques Chirac of France and Vladimir Putin of Russia. "Many things have been included from what we proposed. This led us ... to jointly agree to the resolution."

Putin, who was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as a special observer at an Islamic summit, said the leaders had agreed on a common position, but didn't give details.

The three, who had refused to give support for a U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force to oust Saddam Hussein, had differed with the United States over the timing of returning the Arab country to full sovereignty.

U.S. officials had said Wednesday they expected Russia to vote "yes," and probably Germany as well, and weren't ruling out approval by France, the most outspoken critic of Washington's Iraq policies. China indicated it might support for the resolution that Washington also hopes will set Iraq on its way to independence.

"Our attitude has become more and more positive," said China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya, whose country supported the package of French-Russian-German amendments.

"For China, what we want to see is a stronger role for the U.N. and early return of the sovereignty. At this stage, I think this resolution is far from what [we] expect. But I think as council members, we should always be ready to make compromises," he said Wedneday.

Although the U.N. Security Council remains divided on how fast to transfer power to Iraqis, and who should oversee Iraq's political transition from a dictatorship to a republic, the compromise appeared to be part of an effort to send a more united message on the importance of returning sovereignty to Iraq.

"Above all the unity of the international community must be preserved as much as possible," Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said.

However, she added that the three countries "are very far from being able to commit themselves financially or militarily" to the reconstruction of Iraq.

To get more troops and money into Iraq, the resolution authorizes a multinational force under U.S. command and call for troop contributions as well as "substantial pledges" from the 191 U.N. member countries at a donors conference in Madrid on Oct. 23-24.

A Wednesday vote had been delayed so the leaders of Russia, France and Germany could decide this morning whether to back the resolution, despite Washington's refusal to support their demand that it include a timetable to transfer power to Iraqis.

Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Munir Akram, whose country was considered a swing vote, announced support for the U.S. draft "despite some reservations on certain provisions."

After rejecting the French-Russian-German demand for a timetable, the United States homed in on Russia in its search for votes. Moscow has taken a more moderate position than France and Germany.

Council diplomats said Washington asked what Moscow wanted, and it submitted three amendments Wednesday morning. Less than 12 hours later they were accepted "99 percent by the sponsors" and included in a fifth draft of the resolution, said Russia's U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov.

More Power for Kofi

The amendments give U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan greater scope to participate in the drafting of a new Iraqi constitution and the political transition, and would state for the first time that the mandate of the multinational force authorized by the resolution would expire when an Iraqi government is elected.

Facing rising costs and casualties in Iraq, the Bush administration initially focused on getting more countries to provide troops and money to help stabilize and rebuild Iraq.

France, Russia and Germany changed the focus to the quick restoration of Iraq's sovereignty, forcing the United States to make clear it has no intention of remaining an occupying power.

The United States and Britain never wavered in their assessment that sovereignty can't be relinquished until Iraq drafts a new constitution and holds elections.

They agreed, however, to include new provisions urging the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority "to return governing responsibilities and authorities to the people of Iraq as soon as practicable" and calling on the Iraqi Governing Council to provide the Security Council with a timetable for drafting a new constitution and holding elections by Dec. 15.

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