Powell discusses post-war Iraq
US Secretary of State Colin Powell was today telling officials from Russia and Nato that America must be the main player in the political rehabilitation of Iraq.
His two toughest sessions were expected to be with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov, whose countries have opposed the Iraq war from the start.
French President Jacques Chirac has opposed giving Britain and the US a dominant role in rebuilding Iraq, arguing that would legitimise the war to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime.
But on the eve of Powell’s visit to Europe, France and fellow opponent of the war Germany appeared to soften their intense criticism of the conflict.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in Berlin that he hoped Saddam Hussein’s regime would collapse quickly.
Earlier, a spokesman for the French government said the fall of the Saddam regime would be a good thing.
En route to Brussels, Powell said he wanted to hear the ideas of the Nato allies and European Union governments on Iraq’s reconstruction and on “the appropriate role of the UN”.
As coalition forces close in on Baghdad, Washington and European capitals disagree over how to shape post-war Iraq.
The Europeans want the United Nations to take a lead role in rebuilding Iraq early on, but the US plans to install an interim American administrator in Baghdad at least in the immediate aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s fall.
“It is very important that we are on the UN track now and that we stay on the UN track,” said Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, a supporter of the war.
Powell is to meet a European Union delegation, led by Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who is expected to make clear that the EU will push for a central role for the UN in post-war Iraq.
“We have committed ourselves as the 15 for the United Nations to play the central role. We will be discussing this issue with Colin Powell,” Papandreou said in Athens yesterday.
The Iraq crisis has split Europe. France, Russia, Germany and Belgium have strongly opposed war, while Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal and east European nations have backed the invasion.
However, even British Prime Minister Tony Blair favours a large role for the United Nations in rebuilding Iraq. “Without the United Nations endorsement, then it’s going to be difficult to do some of the things, practically,” he said recently.
Powell was also to speak to the allies about the road map the US, the EU, the UN and Russia have drafted for establishing a Palestinian state by 2005.
