The Bush administration decided on Tuesday to submit a resolution giving the United Nations a more prominent role in security operations in Iraq, as well as the nation’s political transition and economic reconstruction, US officials said. The strategy marks a significant shift and comes amid mounting casualties and increasing costs of operations in Iraq. By giving the UN more of a say, the US hopes to solicit more troops and money to help stabilise the country and facilitate reconstruction and the hand-over of power. US forces hand over parts of central Iraq • BAGHDAD: A Polish-led force took over part of Iraq from US Marines on Wednesday as Washington sought to relieve the burden on its troops with international participation in Iraq’s security. • In Baghdad, 25 ministers were sworn in and were set to get down to work in what is being called another step towards handing the reins of power back to Iraqis. • UNITED NATIONS: The UN has decided to hold an independent inquiry into the bombing of its Baghdad HQ, conceding the demand of staff who had reservations about the current ongoing internal probe. (Reuters) In a meeting on Tuesday with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, President Bush agreed to language in a draft resolution that the US will begin circulating at the Security Council on Wednesday, the officials said. The new US effort at the world body follows a year of tension with the international community on Iraq. It also comes as some Democratic presidential candidates and others have raised questions about US policy in Iraq. The goal is to emphasise the joint UN and US roles and responsibilities in Iraq in ways that will end a virtual diplomatic boycott by France, Germany, India and Pakistan, US officials said. The most immediate need in Iraq is additional troop deployments to bolster the nearly 170,000 soldiers from the US, Britain and other nations. Officials believe a new UN resolution would convince two key Muslim countries, Pakistan and Turkey, as well as India, to provide troops. The US is particularly interested in troops from Muslim countries, both to help in sensitive areas associated with Islam and in conferring legitimacy on the mission by making it appear less foreign to Iraqis, officials say. To win over reluctant allies, the pivotal US compromise, floated last week by the State Department, is to create a multinational force under a UN flag but not under absolute UN control. The troops would not wear the light blue helmets or berets of UN forces in other global hotspots. Administration officials expressed confidence that they could win support for the draft. The draft resolution has four basic areas, according to State Department officials, where the draft originated. They include reaffirming the ‘‘vital role’’ of the UN in Iraq, mandating joint efforts by the UN and the US-led coalition to support Iraqi political process and the transition to a democratically elected government, calling for troop contributions by other countries within a UN framework, with a single, unified command led by the US and accelerating efforts at reconstruction at conferences of donor nations and others this fall. In other language designed to accommodate reluctant Security Council members, the proposed UN resolution stresses the need to expedite the political transition — a means of emphasising that a reconfigured multinational force would not be used to prop up the US- and British-dominated Coalition Provisional Authority but to help stabilise the situation so Iraqis could assume more control, US officials said. ‘‘Iraqis have to be more in charge of the transition,’’ a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. After the bombing of the UN HQ in Baghdad, there has been discussion in the office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about what the UN role in Iraq should be. (LAT-WP)
