United States predicts support from U.N. for postwar Iraq plan

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States predicted that it will get "substantial support" for a resolution to lift U.N. sanctions against Iraq in a Security Council vote expected on Thursday.

The new draft would authorize the U.S.-led coalition, which drove Saddam Hussein from power, to run Iraq until an internationally recognized government is established and to use its oil wealth to finance the country's reconstruction.

Russia, France and China had expressed serious concerns about two earlier drafts and all three reportedly still had some concerns about the latest proposal.

"The role of the Security Council in overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq should be clear," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said.

Council diplomats said one issue is the lack of any timeframe for the United States and Britain to administer Iraq as occupying powers. Another is the fate of contracts under the oil-for-food humanitarian program that have been approved but won't be funded, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte initially wanted a vote Wednesday afternoon but delayed it because Security Council members suggested so many changes to the latest draft during closed-door consultations that more time was needed to prepare a new text.

"In light of some of the issues that arose ... we agreed that the vote in all likelihood will take place on Thursday morning," Negroponte said.

Diplomats said the resolution was virtually certain to get 12 "yes" votes in the 15-member council, with only France, Russia and China's votes in question. Nine votes are needed for the resolution to pass.

The three permanent members, who opposed the war against Iraq, have let it be known that they would abstain -- but not use their vetoes -- if they couldn't support the final draft.

"There is strong support for this resolution," Negroponte said after the nearly four-hour council meeting.

In a key concession, the United States agreed to allow the Security Council to review implementation of the resolution after one year, but Washington rejected a French proposal to put a one-year time limit on the U.S. and British authority to run Iraq, diplomat said.

Trying to win support for the revised draft, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell worked the phones on Tuesday, calling several of his counterparts worldwide.

The new draft gives the United Nations a clearly defined role in establishing a democratic government and increases the stature of a U.N. envoy in Iraq. But it also leaves the United States and Britain, as occupying powers, firmly in control of Iraq and its oil wealth until "an internationally recognized, representative government" takes office.

American billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros warned Tuesday that the resolution would establish an American protectorate sanctioned by the United Nations and financed by Iraq's oil revenue.

He proposed specific changes to give the United Nations more power in postwar Iraq and limit the U.S. and British occupation. But he told a news conference that all he could realistically hope for were changes in "a few words here and there."

The United States already has made a number of substantive changes to address many countries' concerns that the United Nations was being relegated to coordinating humanitarian aid, helping with reconstruction and having a very limited political role.

In other key changes, the oil-for-food program would be phased out over six months, instead of four months, meeting a concern of the French and the Russians.

The new text asks Secretary-General Kofi Annan to appoint a special representative with "independent powers" to work with the United States and Britain "to facilitate a process leading to an internationally recognized, representative government of Iraq." The previous texts referred to a U.N. "special coordinator," a lower status.

Under the 1990 resolution imposing sanctions on Iraq, U.N. weapons inspectors are to certify that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been eliminated before sanctions are lifted. But the United States has refused to allow U.N. teams to return to Iraq, deploying its own inspectors instead.

The resolution would lift economic sanctions, freeing Iraq's oil revenue from U.N. control. But it also reaffirms "that Iraq must meet its disarmament obligations" and "underlines the intention of the council to revisit the mandates" of U.N. inspectors at a future time.