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U.N. Security Council adopts resolution backing new Iraqi interim goverment

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Supporters and opponents of the Iraq war joined forces June 9 to help launch the country's interim government, unanimously adopting a U.N. resolution backing Iraqi sovereignty and giving the new leaders clout over a U.S.-led force.

The measure authorizes the U.S.-led multinational force for Iraq, but says the mandate will end when a constitutionally elected government takes power, expected by early 2006, or if the Iraqi government requests it. It also gives the Iraqi government control over its oil revenues.

The Security Council's 15-0 vote June 8 followed two weeks of intense negotiations and a last-minute U.S. compromise on a key French and German demand: the clear statement that the Iraqi government will control all Iraqi forces and have veto power over their participation in military operations by the multinational force.

France and Germany, key opponents of the war, also wanted the interim government to have veto power over major military operations by the U.S.-led force, like the siege of Fallujah. But Iraq's new leaders didn't demand such power, so Paris and Berlin agreed to the U.S.-Iraqi deal requiring the U.S.-led force and the new government to agree on "policy on sensitive offensive operations."

Whether the new government succeeds will depend on its own efforts to rally support.

U.S. President George W. Bush said June 9 he envisions a wider role for NATO in post-occupation Iraq, which administration officials said could include helping to train the Iraqi army.

On the economic front, the European Union said it is ready to give Iraq a broad range of financial and other assistance, contingent on security improvements and progress toward democracy.

In Japan, Shinzo Abe, a key ally of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said Tokyo now should do all it can to help Iraq but only with postwar rebuilding, not security.

Shukan ST: June 18, 2004

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