UNITED NATIONS, 8 April 2003 — UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan held talks yesterday with Security Council members on Iraq, warning that UN involvement was required to confer legitimacy on any post-conflict administration in Baghdad.
After the meeting, Annan’s spokesman Fred Ekhard announced that the secretary general would make a whirlwind diplomatic tour of four countries at the heart of the wrangling over the UN’s future role in Iraq — Britain, France, Germany and Russia.
“These four countries are actively engaged in the current debate ... and (Annan) felt that he wanted to have discussions at a higher level than he’s been able to have here,” Ekhard said.
Annan will leave on his tour Wednesday and return to New York at the weekend.
Before yesterday’s talks, Annan reiterated that he expected the United Nations to play an “important role” in Iraq’s reconstruction and cited the UN’s long experience in the fields of “political facilitation” as well as humanitarian aid and human rights.
“Above all, the UN involvement does bring legitimacy, which is necessary for the country, for the region and for the peoples around the world,” he said.
His comments and the announcement of the European tour came amid intense debate between world leaders over who should lead rebuilding efforts in Iraq on the political, humanitarian and economic levels.
The staunchest US ally, Britain, has found itself on common ground with the fiercest opponents of the war in Iraq — France, Germany and Russia — in pushing for a significant role for the United Nations when hostilities cease.
However, key members of the President George W. Bush’s administration — angered at the Security Council’s failure to support the war — have balked at granting the world body a role as a power-broker.
