PARIS, 12 August 2003 — A draft UN resolution the United States plans to put forward this week to boost the UN presence in Iraq must stress the creation of the Iraqi Governing Council, the French Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

“Regarding the provisional Iraqi Governing Council, the draft should, as far as we are concerned, note its creation — a first step in a process of establishing representative institutions that must be part of a clear and precise timetable,” ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said.

France believes the new resolution “would, as Mr. Kofi Annan recommended, formalize the creation of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq and would in this way develop Resolution 1483,” he said.

According to US media reports, US President George W. Bush’s administration wants to introduce the draft resolution to increase the legitimacy of the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council set up by Washington, and show that the United Nations has an important role in Iraq.

The resolution, if passed, would establish a UN mission to oversee the council, the US reports said.

But UN diplomats have said it would grant little new authority to the United Nations, which already has a mandate to contribute to humanitarian relief and the reconstruction of Iraq under Resolution 1483, which was passed May 22.

France holds one of the five permanent seats on the UN Security Council which have the power of veto over any resolution.

It and Russia, another permanent member, threatened to use that power in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, infuriating Washington and prompting US forces to go in alone with its British and Australian allies.

US relations with France and the United Nations have been frosty ever since, but the deaths of US soldiers in daily attacks has forced Washington to increasingly look to international help in rebuilding Iraq.

Britain said Saturday it was in favor of the new draft resolution, while Russia has also underlined the need for a new resolution to reinforce the UN role in Iraq.

Germany Rules Out Sending

Troops to Iraq

BERLIN — Germany has ruled out sending troops to Iraq to assist US-led forces in stabilizing the war-shattered country, government spokesman Thomas Steg said yesterday.

“Our position is clear. The government is abiding by its stance not to engage militarily in Iraq,” Steg told reporters, noting the government had not been formally asked for help by the United States.

Steg was asked about the German position after Defense Minister Peter Struck said in a weekend newspaper interview he could envisage NATO assuming a role in postwar Iraq and said that German peacekeeping troops could join such a mission.

Struck had said such participation would be contingent on a United Nations mandate and a formal request from the occupying powers for assistance, and described the issue of German participation as “theoretical”.

Steg did not comment on Germany’s position on NATO joining the peacekeeping effort in Iraq at yesterday’s routine government news conference.

Meanwhile the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, General Harald Kujat, called for the alliance to play a role in Iraq and said such an operation would be possible under a UN mandate. In an interview with Deutschlandradio Berlin, he said that Berlin’s decision whether or not to join such a mission need not be decisive.

“The question of German participation does not always need to be placed at the start of such considerations,” he said.