16 January 2004
Iraqis, CPA to Discuss Return of U.N.
Meeting set with Secretary-General Annan for January 19
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- When members of the Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) meet with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other senior U.N. officials January 19, it will be the first inclusive session to discuss the return of the United Nations to Iraq since a deadly bomb attack in August 2003 caused the world organization to withdraw from the country.
The CPA will be represented by L. Paul Bremer III, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, while the Governing Council members will be led by Adnan Pachachi, current president of the council.
In the day-long session, which will include a private meeting with the Security Council, the participants hope to begin defining a role for the United Nations not only after the CPA transfers power to the Iraqis on July 1 but also in the intervening six months.
Secretary-General Annan has said that he will take into account the security situation in the country as well as the scope and substance of any U.N. role in determining when to send U.N. staff back into the country on a permanent basis. Nevertheless, the U.N. has requested assistance from the CPA for a four-person evaluation mission to visit Iraq in the coming weeks.
"Monday will not be a 'make or break day'" in determining if the U.N. will return to Iraq, a U.N. official said January 15.
"This meeting, for us, is a step along the way. It's not a meeting where there will be a decision on our part. We're going to listen to what they have to say, reflect on what they expect of us," the official said. "It is up to the Iraqis to show where and if there is a substantive role" for the U.N.
"It is an opportunity for the secretary-general to hear the positions direct from the Governing Council," the U.N. official said. "There is still need for clarity ... so we can judge security, scope, etc."
A senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the CPA "is very interested in having (the U.N.) back. Absolutely."
"There are lots of things large and small in which the U.N. can play a role," the U.S. official said.
"Bremer would not be coming here, we would not be having these ongoing discussions if we weren't interested in the UN's activities," the official said.
"We've been importuning them. We talked to the secretary-general as long ago as the Madrid donors' conference (in October 2003) about the U.N. coming back. We told them we were very interested in having the U.N. return. We would be willing to work with them on security measures," the U.S. official said.
"Our goal, the goal of the CPA is to move the process along so there is a transfer of sovereignty on July 1 and we're interested in advancing that process. People will be discussing various means of advancing that process," the official said.
The senior official said that the most obvious immediate role for the United Nations is in the humanitarian area -- the return of U.N. agencies such as the World Food Program, UNICEF, UNESCO, and the World Health Organization. After July 1, it is the United Nations that has the expertise in helping fledgling governments draft constitutions and election laws and hold elections.
But the U.S. official did not rule out the possibility that Bremer will also discuss ways the U.N. can play a political role in the coming six months.
The late U.N. special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello "played a significant role in the setting up of the Governing Council process, meeting with individuals and getting them launched and getting them to work with the Governing Council after it came into being," the official said.
Vieira de Mello "played a political role working with the various parties, groups, and factions in Iraq, discussing with them, trying to help build bridges and trying to move the process forward," the official pointed out.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=January&x=20040116183455atia0.4641077&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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