US plan for multinational force suffers setback

Dresden, Germany

"The ... resolution does not seem to fulfil the conditions which (UN Secretary-General) Kofi Annan set out for a UN intervention in the framework of Iraq's reconstruction," Michele

Alliot-Marie said at a news conference with her German counterpart Peter Struck.

According to Mr Struck, the draft "does not correspond with what was proposed by Kofi Annan to give more responsibility to the UN ... As long as the juridical situation has not changed, the German government has no plans to take part in a military intervention in Iraq".

Earlier, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the US proposal didn't go far enough in ensuring a transfer of authority to an Iraqi government.

Mr Schroeder and Mr Chirac, both adamant opponents of the war in Iraq, said they wanted to see a greater role for the United Nations in guiding the country's reconstruction. Such a role was not included in the draft UN resolution circulated by the United States on Wednesday.

"We are naturally ready to study it in the most positive manner," Chirac said. "But we are quite far removed from what we believe is the priority objective, which is the transfer of political responsibility to an Iraqi government as quickly as possible."

Schroeder said the draft resolution had brought "movement" into the diplomacy. But he added: "I agree with the president when he says: Not dynamic enough, not sufficient."

The statements dealt a blow to the proposed US resolution. France is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a position that gives it veto power over council actions.

The US resolution was made public on Wednesday. The draft resolution would transform the US-led military force in Iraq into a UN-authorised multinational force under a unified command. It would also ask the Iraqi Governing Council to co-operate with the United Nations and US

officials in Baghdad to produce a timetable and programme for drafting a new constitution and holding democratic elections.

Key provisions in the US draft would:

Call on UN member states to help train and equip an Iraqi police force.

Invite the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to co-operate with the UN and US officials in Baghdad to produce "a timetable and program for the drafting of a new constitution for Iraq and for the holding of democratic elections".

Ask the UN representative in Iraq to facilitate a "national dialogue and consensus building" to promote the political transition.

Ask all UN member states and international and regional organisations "to accelerate the provision of substantial financial contributions to support the Iraqi reconstruction effort" and appeal to international financial institutions to take immediate steps to provide a full range of loans and other assistance.

Call on countries in the region "to prevent the transit of terrorists, arms for terrorists, and financing that would support terrorists".

But US Secretary of State Colin Powell made clear that "the United States will continue to play a dominant role", politically and militarily. An American commander would take charge of the multinational force and US administrator Paul Bremer would keep the top political post, he said.

Reaction from Security Council members was mixed. Hours before Mr Schroeder and Mr Chirac spoke, Russia sent its first signal that it might consider sending peacekeepers to Iraq as part of an international force. "It all depends on a specific resolution. I wouldn't exclude it outright," Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

But some European countries are likely to resist if the United States continues to try to hold on to all the lucrative and influential ventures, such as oil contracts and the political rebuilding process, according to some council diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity. The postwar operation is costing the US about $3.9 billion a month and has strained the American military, which has some 140,000 troops stationed in Iraq.

The resolution envisions a substantial infusion of international aid to defray costs largely borne by US taxpayers. Meanwhile, the US administration is preparing a budget request for $60bn to $70bn for reconstruction and the military operation of Iraq.