United Nations, Oct 14: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who has been pushing for a faster handover of power to Iraqis, said today that a new US draft resolution on Iraq
"does not represent a major shift" in the US position.
Annan said he was "grateful" that the United States had taken into consideration some of his concerns about the potential UN role in post-war Iraq but noted that the sequence
of political development was unchanged.
The latest draft keeps the same sequence -- writing a Constitution first, with elections later and sovereignty last-- that Annan and several key Security Council nations had
criticised.
The UN chief wants Iraqis to be given sovereignty first, a move which he has said could cut down on the fierce guerrilla resistance against the occupation, marked by another
suicide bombing in Baghdad earlier today.
"I have stated my views very clearly to the members of the Security Council over the last couple of weeks on the process in iraq, including the constitutional and electoral aspects," Annan said.
"Obviously the current resolution does not represent a major shift in the thinking of the coalition," he said. "However, I am grateful that they have taken into view, into account, some of my preoccupations."
Bureau Report
