Russia attacks 'secret' post-war Iraq plan

Russia has attacked the United States for negotiating a “secretive” post-war Iraq plan.

The country says any new United Nations resolution endorsing a handover of power to Iraqis should authorise a strong political role for the UN.

Russia also raised the possibility of the United Nations organising an Afghan-style conference for a broad spectrum of Iraqi groups to choose a provisional National Assembly. The conference should be held in the Middle East, possibly as early as January.

The US-endorsed agreement calls for drafting, with US help, an interim constitution, followed by the installation of a provisional government that will take over from the coalition authority in June.

Russian officials at the United Nations and in Moscow stressed that the United Nations must be involved in the handover of Iraqi power to give the process international legitimacy.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Yuri Fedotov, the country’s diplomatic point man on Iraq, said the United States negotiated the plan “in a secretive atmosphere and actually without regard for the view of the international community, neighbouring countries and the United Nations Security Council”.

“In our opinion, if an effort is to be made to settle the problem of Iraq, this must be done collectively,” Fedotov said, according to the Interfax news agency. “This is the only way to make the settlement process legitimate both in internal terms and from the standpoint of international law.”

Russia, Germany and France have been pressing for months for a stronger UN political role in Iraq.

“Now they are not talking a word about the role of the UN,” Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Gennady Gatilov told The Associated Press. “Our position from the very beginning [was] to have a vital role of the UN We would still like that if it comes up. Otherwise, what would be the use of this resolution?”

UN diplomats said Monday that the United States wanted a new UN resolution to endorse the agreement. The US State Department plans to start work on drafting the resolution and Britain may help with the text, the diplomats said.

The Iraqi council has announced a set of deadlines that would give the country a provisional national assembly by May, a transitional administration with full sovereign powers in June, and an elected government before the end of 2005.