VN resolutie: highlights

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Hein van Meeteren wrote:

> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
>
> Wees niet vertoornd....Het zij me vergund  u de
> highlights door te geven van de op handen zijnde VK-US VN
> resolutie:

Met al een reactie ..

Find this article at:
http://news.ft.com/s01/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1084907768559&p=1012571727162

"
Draft UN resolution to avoid Iraq constitution

By Mark Turner in New York, Guy Dinmore in Washington and
Roula,Khalaf in Baghdad

Published: May 24 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: May 24 2004 5:00

The US will not insist on endorsement of Iraq's interim
constitution in a new United Nations Security Council
resolution governing the country's return to self-rule, in
what appears to be a victory for Iraq's Shia clerics but a
setback for the Kurdish minority.

UN diplomats say several Security Council members have asked
the US to avoid any mention of the so-called Transitional
Administrative Law (TAL), amid pressure from Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's highest Shia cleric.

The issue has emerged as one of the most sensitive areas of
debate on the UN resolution that is under negotiation in New
York. The British Foreign Office yesterday confirmed the
draft resolution would also address the issue of legal
responsibility by US and other coalition troops in Iraq.

The interim constitution, signed by the US-led Coalition
Provisional Authority in Iraq and the US-appointed Governing
Council in March, was seen as a landmark agreement between
Iraq's main communities. It established a timetable for
Iraq's political transition and enshrined the rights of
minorities and the concept of federalism cherished by the Kurds.

But it also included articles that would place constraints
on the future constitution, provoking protests from Mr Sistani.

In a fatwa, or religious edict, the senior cleric also
opposed a clause favoured by the Kurds and the Arab Sunni
minorities, allowing any three provinces in Iraq to veto a
future permanent constitution. He warned that a constitution
should only be agreed by an elected body.

Failure to endorse the document in a new UN resolution
leaves a question mark over its status, since both the CPA
and the Governing Council will disappear when sovereignty is
transferred to Iraqis on June 30.

But it avoids an immediate dispute about the interim
constitution at a time when Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy,
is trying to win agreement from Iraq's three main
communities on a caretaker government. Mr Brahimi is hoping
to announce the government by the end of this month.

Shia parties on the Governing Council have been seeking to
amend the interim constitution -a move the Kurds adamantly
oppose.

"Changing the transitional law is a no-go area - the CPA
doesn't want to open it," said a member of the Governing
Council. "But what the US could do is pick up some points in
the document and have it endorsed as part of the resolution."

While it has become clear that official endorsement is off
the table, the US and Britain still want the timetable for
the political transition to feature in the UN resolution.

A coalition official also said some countries still believed
there was "merit" in granting "some status" to the law's
structure and guidelines. UN diplomats said the US favoured
some kind of language mentioning, perhaps even welcoming,
its adoption.

"The UN has fantastic language," said one European diplomat.
"There is a range of words, like 'acknowledge' for example."
The diplomat added that the UN did not want to prejudge the
shape of a future constitution.
"

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