The United States is facing misgivings from other UN Security Council members over its plans to hand over to an Iraqi interim government on June 30th, particularly over the powers of the US-led force and how long it will stay in the country.
France, Germany, Russia and China signalled they wanted changes to the US-British draft resolution on Iraq's transition.
"It is a draft - a draft which should be discussed and improved," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said in Paris. His view was echoed by President Chirac.
The resolution presented to the Security Council members is an integral part of President Bush's plan for stabilising Iraq and creating a democratic state there. It would endorse the formation of a sovereign interim Iraqi government but allow US-led forces to take "all necessary measures" to keep the peace and fight terrorism.
Several council members said they expected the resolution on Iraq's transition to be adopted with changes before June 30th.
"I do not expect any fight," said Algeria's UN ambassador, Mr Abdallah Baali, the only Arab member of the council. "All of us are in a constructive mood. We want the transition to succeed."
Some nations, including France and Germany, want an expiration date to be set for the multinational force and then the right to renew the force if the Iraqis agree, their envoys said.
The draft now calls for a review in a year, which means the mandate of the force is open-ended, unless the council adopts another resolution to withdraw the foreign troops.
Publicly, US and British leaders say they would take their troops out of Iraq if the country's leaders wanted them to but this is not a part of the resolution.
China's UN ambassador, Mr Wang Guangya, said he and other council envoys would suggest changes to the text.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said earlier that a new Iraqi government "must be able to make decisions over security issues, or it won't be truly sovereign".
Another problem is whether Iraqi troops could refuse an order to fight. But US officials said this would be incorporated into a letter from the new Iraqi government and the US commander and attached to the resolution.
Italy voiced confidence yesterday that NATO would take military control of part of Iraq some time after the US-led coalition is officially dissolved in June.
Foreign Minister Mr Franco Frattini said neither Germany nor France would block a NATO mission in Iraq. - (Reuters)