Berlin, Moscow, Paris Call for New UN Resolution on Iraq
July 23, 2003
Ministers and officials from France, Germany and Russia have called for a new resolution to give the United Nations an extended political role in Iraq as attacks and military operations continue to take place in the supposedly post-war country.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and Russia’s Igor Ivanov have both gone on record as saying that, in light of the unstable situation in Iraq, the current resolution needs to be extended. The ministers believe that a new resolution should allow other countries to help the United States keep order in increasingly troubled Iraq and to give the UN broader powers to provide legitimacy for political reconstruction and peacekeeping.
Resolution 1483, approved by the Security Council on May 22, defines the UN's role in Iraq as one limited to humanitarian aid and political advice only under the current U.S.-British management of the country.
De Villepin said at an EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday that a new resolution should give the UN overall responsibility in Iraq. "A more ambitious resolution may be necessary," in order to define the UN’s role more clearly, he said. His words were reiterated by France’s UN envoy Jean-Marc de La Sabliere on Tuesday at a meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York. "France remains convinced that everyone would win if a true international partnership was put in place, and a global approach to the security, political and economic problems was overseen by the United Nations."
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s UN session at a meeting of Caspian Sea states in Moscow, Russia’s foreign minister said, "We hope the Security Council will be able to establish constructively which urgent, additional measures are needed to consolidate the situation and start the process of reconstruction." Ivanov added that Russia believes that new Security Council resolutions are needed to give the international community the vital legal basis to take a more active role in the reconstruction process.
Germany’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gunther Pleuger, said that Germany would support a new UN resolution that would see a step-by-step removal of U.S. forces from Iraq and an increased political role for the United Nations within the country.
U.S. President George W. Bush responded to the call by saying that he would welcome more international support for helping increase security in Iraq, but he doubted a new UN resolution was necessary as a mandate for the support. "The existing resolution empowers countries to make a proper decision to get involved in Iraq," said the president.
British officials argued that no new resolution was needed. "We believe that the current resolution fully covers the actions being discussed, but that does not mean there could not be further activity in the Security Council," a spokesperson for the government said. "If there is a need for another resolution we would be very happy to consider it as and when is necessary."