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04 April 2003

Powell Sees Wide Agreement on Major U.N. Role in Iraq

(Secretary of State briefs with EU's Solana) (560)
By Anthony Kujawa
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington -- The United States is engaged in a "pragmatic dialogue"
with other members of the international community about the role of
the United Nations in postwar Iraq, but there is agreement that the
U.N. will play a "major role," Secretary of State Colin Powell told
reporters after meeting with Javier Solana of the European Union (EU)
April 4.
Powell said he and Solana, the EU high representative for common
foreign and security policy, discussed transatlantic relations, the
situation in Iraq, and prospects for movement in Middle East peace
efforts with the expected confirmation of Abu Mazin as prime minister
of the Palestinian Authority.
In a joint press conference following their meeting, the two officials
said the United Nations will play a key role in post-conflict Iraq.
Powell said he spoke to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan about his
April 3 meetings in Brussels with North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) ministers and EU officials on the role of the U.N. in Iraq but
that the purpose of the discussions in Brussels was to "exchange
views," not "come to closure about the role of the U.N."
"We're at the beginning of a process of dialogue, pragmatic dialogue,
to determine what the appropriate role of the U.N. should be," said
Powell.
"Ultimately, that judgment will be made at the U.N. Security Council,
and of course the secretary-general has to play a part in those
deliberations," he added.
"The U.N. will be a partner in all of this. Everybody understands
that. There's no disagreement about that. And as President Bush and
[British] Prime Minister [Tony] Blair and Mr. [Jose Maria] Aznar
[president of government of Spain] said at the Azores summit, they
expect the U.N. to play a major role as a partner in this effort."
"We'll work our way through the intricacies of the role to be played
by the U.N. in the days ahead," the secretary said.
Solana explained that while their meeting was not intended to resolve
all problems, "we move forward in the idea that we have to continue
talking, discussing the subject and taking a very pragmatic approach."
Questioned about plans to establish an interim administration in
post-conflict Iraq, Powell explained that the U.S. seeks an interim
authority that is representative of all Iraqis.
"And as I've said on many occasions, we want it [the interim
authority] to include those who are in the external opposition, who
have worked so long and so hard and with such determination for the
liberation of Iraq, but also individuals inside. And we are now
putting together plans to structure that approach, and in due course,
we will make it known to everyone."
In response to a question about U.S. congressional action to ban firms
from Russian, France, Germany and Syria from making bids on the
reconstruction of Iraq, Powell said, "we'll wait and see how that
works out in the Senate. We believe it would be better if there were
not such conditions placed in the supplemental."
Commenting on his April 3 meetings in Brussels, Powell said they
"helped to bridge some of the differences" in transatlantic relations
and he looks forward to further consultations.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)