UN: A vote on a new United Nations resolution on Iraq is to be postponed until at least the end of next week because of continuing disagreement between security council members.
The US and Britain, co-sponsors of the resolution, had hoped it could be tabled and voted on before this weekend's D-Day anniversary, which is to be attended by President Bush and leaders of other countries involved in the negotiations.
Unlike the security council stand-off between France and the US before the Iraq war last year, the resolution will almost certainly be passed. What remains at issue is the shape of the resolution.
The French government is holding out for further concessions aimed at giving the Iraq caretaker government that comes into being on June 30th as much power as possible, including a veto over US-led military operations similar to last month's assault on Fallujah.
But the US is opposed to giving the caretaker government such a veto. The US secretary of state, Mr Colin Powell, said in an interview with the Middle East Broadcasting Centre: "You can't use the word 'veto'. There could be a situation where we have to act and there may be a disagreement, and we have to act to protect ourselves or to accomplish a mission." Mr Bush is expected to discuss differences over dinner with the French president, Jacques Chirac, tomorrow night and with other leaders on Sunday in Normandy.
A British official said: "It is not where it will be finally settled but it will decide the tone of the handover and whether we will work together."
A French government source, sceptical that the leaders will be able to agree on anything other than broad terms this weekend, said: "It will be decided in New York, not on the beach." Despite the difficulties, Mr Blair said yesterday he was optimistic that a compromise could be reached and the resolution passed "in a pretty short space of time".
France is being supported on the security council by Russia and China, who share the French concern that the draft is still too vague about sovereignty. Germany, Chile and Algeria, also on the security council, said they too were not yet persuaded.
"Many of our concerns remain. Therefore, the text needs serious work," Mr Yuri Fedotov, a deputy Russian foreign minister, told Interfax news agency. "It is clear that in order for these forces to act effectively, they must be placed under joint command. As for the details, all this must be foreseen by the UN security council and confirmed in the corresponding resolution."
One immediate advantage of the French delaying tactics has been to allow the new Iraqi caretaker government an opportunity to take part in the negotiations. The Iraqi foreign minister, Mr Hoshiyar Zebari, appointed this week, was scheduled to address the security council last night, the first opportunity the Iraqis have been given to join the debate.
"This is a very important resolution for us. And definitely we need to have our own input," he said beforehand.
The UN secretary-general, Mr Kofi Annan, also addressed the security council.
The British government, while a co-sponsor of the resolution, has been leaning in the direction of giving the Iraqi caretaker government more power over military operations than proposed by the US.
Mr Blair said last month the caretaker government should give its consent to any Fallujah-style operations.
Meanwhile, Spain's prime minister, Mr Zapatero, said yesterday Spain would send no troops back to Iraq after their full withdrawal last month.