25 September 2003
Transfer of Authority to Iraq Must Follow Elections, U.S. Official Says
Briefs on Powell's meetings with foreign officials in New York Sept. 24
United Nations -- Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed Iraq and Afghanistan with presidents, foreign ministers and permanent U.N. representatives from at least 45 countries before attending a dinner with members of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations on September 24, according to a State Department official.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Powell in their meeting that "a [U.N.] resolution [on Iraq] would be very helpful," according to the State official. Gul also updated Powell on the status of Turkey's deliberations over committing troops to Iraq as well as the Turkish delegation's earlier meetings with members of the Iraqi Governing Council.
For his part, Powell "made clear that ... [the United States] would very much like to have Turkish troops come help in Iraq," the official said during a media background briefing. A number of other Muslim countries also are considering contributing troops to Iraq, and the United States "would like to see [them] participate if they can," he added.
Gul and Powell also discussed Cyprus, and the need for upcoming election in the north to be conducted fairly. They also talked about resuming Turkish-Greek negotiations on Cyprus "on the basis of the U.N. Secretary General's plan," the senior official said.
Powell also met with representatives of the ten non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The issue of troop contributions to the U.S.-led, multinational force in Iraq "was not a major subject of discussion," the official said. Rather, discussion focused on the mechanisms and timing of the eventual transfer of governing authority to Iraqis. There was general recognition that the transfer must be a gradual process, "that there needs to be a timetable, but it needs to be realistic," according to the State official.
"[I]n terms of the investment of blood and treasure that we have made -- and that we are prepared to continue making -- to ensure a stable, democratic Iraq ... we want ... an Iraq that ... [has] a constitutional basis for ... democracy. That is why we feel very strongly that this process of full transfer of authority to an Iraqi government can only be completed when they have an elected government," the senior official said.
Powell also attended an Afghan donors meeting on September 24, the official said. He noted that the $1.2 billion U.S. donation mentioned by President Bush in his September 23 General Assembly speech is in addition to the $1.8 billion already appropriated for Afghanistan.
The senior State Department official said other Afghan issues discussed included provincial reconstruction teams now being expanded and moved to sites around the country, as well as NATO's consideration of expanding the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The fact of the donors' meeting, and the presence of Powell and other ministerial-level attendance at it, showed that "Afghanistan's continuing importance is clear to us all," he said.
On a different topic, the senior official was asked why the United States has proposed a new Security Council resolution on nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). He said that existing mechanisms, while useful and reassuring to those who choose to comply with them, are susceptible to technical or "apparent" compliance by those who "still develop dangerous [WMD] programs."
The United States would like compliance mechanisms to be strengthened. "How, exactly ... a U.N. resolution could do that is something that we've started discussions with other governments on," the senior official said, adding that further meetings and discussions would be needed before he could describe the full scope of such a resolution.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
